Dems Rig Virginia Vote With Misleading Ballot Language

Virginia Democrats are rigging the statewide vote on their gerrymandering scheme with proposed ballot language that euphemistically describes the lopsided redistricting map as a plan “to restore fairness.”

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?” the ballot question asks.

Democrats’ idea of “restoring fairness” includes taking a state with five Republicans and six Democrats in Congress (where one of the Republicans represents a razor-thin swing district), to a formidable 10-1 Democrat advantage. In a state where more than two million people (46 percent) voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, fewer than 800,000 will be properly represented in Congress under the new map.

The goal of the Democrats is to effectively disenfranchise as many right-leaning Virginians as geographically possible. That’s why there is such a significant change from districts that are, for the most part, geographically sensible to one where the districts slither up through deep-blue Northern Virginia, while roping in deep-red counties along the way.

“Democrats’ illegal gerrymandering power grab is an affront to democracy and rigs our maps to turn Virginia into a one-party state. 65% of voters went to the polls in 2020 and rejected exactly what Democrats are trying to do now,” the Virginia Republican Party posted on social media. “Democrats’ power grab would create the worst, most partisan legislative map anywhere in the country. It has nothing to do with ‘fairness’ and is all about giving Democrats control over 91% of the seats with 50% of the vote.”

The only Republican district left in the proposed map would be in the southwest region. But even that region, in the proposed 6th District, a slinking cove was created to pick up left-wing college towns in order to force many Republican-leaning central Virginia counties (which currently have Republican representation in Congress) to have Democrat representation.

The ballot initiative’s “restore fairness” language perhaps contrasts most strongly with the proposed 7th District, ironically Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s old district (though it’s been mangled beyond recognition), which has served as the visual representation of the entire power-grab: A district that resembles either a scorpion or a lobster slinks from the deep-blue suburbs of Washington, D.C., all the way down into deep-red, less populous areas.

“This ballot language describing blatant gerrymandering as ‘fairness’ is so misleading that it’s essentially fraud on the people of Virginia,” former Republican Del. Mark Earley said on social media.

National Democrats intend on spending a lot of money in Virginia to force this effort across the finish line, according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Jeffries told CNN, “We will spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure that the Republicans do not successfully manipulate voters in Virginia, and that voters have all of the information necessary to make a decision around whether they want Donald Trump to rig the midterm elections and halt the ability for the American people to decide who’s in the majority, or whether the people of Virginia and the people of America should be the ones to decide.”

Some Virginians have noticed what appears to be a lack of institutional effort by Republicans in battling the referendum.

“Democrats are already pouring millions into the redistricting referendum in Virginia that’s set for April 21, and almost every normie Republican I know isn’t even aware there’s an election going on that would permanently make all future elections irrelevant,” observer Christian Heiens said on social media.

“Where is the opposition? Republicans have not done anything other than give speeches in Richmond about this. Everything I see so far suggests this will go the way of California’s Prop 50. The referendum will pass by 7-10 points, Republicans will automatically lose 4 congressional seats in VA in November, and Virginia will have the most gerrymandered map in the entire country.”

The Virginia Project, a political action committee, noted that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) — the arm of the Republican Party responsible for electing Republicans to the House and securing a majority — should be interested in ensuring this referendum fails, but “don’t even appear to be aware of it.”

Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.