GOP Stalling On SAVE Act Gave Virginians No Reason To Vote For Them
In this Federalist column by Breccan F. Thies,the author argues that establishment Republicans bear blame for Democrats’ advantage in Virginia by failing to advance basic election integrity reforms,notably the SAVE America Act. He contends that Republicans on Capitol Hill are engaging in “failure theater” by delaying a real path to reform, while calls from Trump and others to end the filibuster highlight the stakes of passing the act. The piece contrasts Virginia Democrats’ effective use of power to reshape the political landscape with Republicans’ perceived inaction, suggesting the GOP has not given voters a compelling reason to support them in the upcoming elections. Thies references voting data to illustrate how anti-gerrymandering efforts narrowly failed to prevent a favorable shift for Democrats, and he notes the broader implications for Republican representation in Congress. the central message is that Republicans must earn voters’ support through concrete achievements rather than assuming it, or risk further losses in November.
Establishment Republicans are to blame for allowing Democrats to gerrymander Virginia for several reasons, but one of the most glaring is that they cannot even pass the most basic election integrity reforms in the SAVE America Act.
In addition to Republicans doing next to nothing to stop the gerrymander in the first place, Republicans on Capitol Hill are also giving Americans no reason to give them their vote by refusing to use the governing trifecta voters gave them in 2024.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., continues a meaningless attempt at “passing” the bill (failure theater), which simply requires voter ID at the ballot box and proof of citizenship for voter registration. Multiple senators and President Donald Trump have called for Thune to nuke the filibuster to pass it, so that they can deliver at least something to get voters excited about the midterms.
“The Republicans should TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and VOTE!” Trump posted to social media. “Haven’t they had enough of this nonsense from the Radical Left Lunatics that are looking to destroy our Country?”
Thus far, the calls have been met with crickets, and the SAVE America Act is stuck in limbo.
Virginia Democrats, meanwhile, just put on a masterclass in what to do with power when you take it. Virginia had an entirely Republican leadership in the executive branch four months ago, and in no time at all, Democrats whipped their national party leaders and fundraisers in gear and swamped an election that will likely determine if Republicans can keep the U.S. House in November.
Right now, Republicans have 217 House members and an independent who caucuses with them, making up the bare 218-person majority. After some resignations, Democrats have 213. Democrats just effectively stole four more seats in the House.
Republicans should be taking notes.
The Republican Party seems to expect voters to show up to vote for them automatically, while giving them nothing to actually earn their vote. It is not the voter’s job to prop up a party that hates them.
Republicans narrowly lost the gerrymandering battle, giving Democrats a probable 10-1 delegation majority, but it was only that narrow because the anti-gerrymander campaign was only able to replicate the dismally low performance of Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Sears from 2025, and lots of Democrats did not even show up.
According to the unofficial numbers from the Virginia Public Access Project, the anti-gerrymander “no” campaign garnered around 1,480,371 votes. Sears in 2025 got 1,449,586.
The “yes” campaign meanwhile won with 1,566,501 votes, while now-Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., got 1,976,857 votes — about 400,000 more.
To put that into perspective, former Gov. Glenn Youngkin got 1,663,596 in the 2021 election. Republicans knew the votes were there, but had nothing to show voters to gain their trust.
Now, 51 percent of voters in Virginia can take away nearly all the representation of 49 percent of voters — and Trump is that much closer to a lame duck term filled with investigations, subpoenas, and impeachments.
If Republicans want any chance of winning in November, they are going to have to prove they are worth voting for.
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