{"id":2555319,"date":"2026-01-28T08:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-4\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T08:24:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:24:58","slug":"judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge: Virginia Dems&#8217; Gerrymandering Ploy Is Illegal And Voided"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-4%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2555319&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Virginia circuit judge blocked Democrats\u2019 effort to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the General Assembly to adopt a new congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. Tazewell County Judge Jack Hurley found the Legislature\u2019s October 2025 vote occurred during an ongoing election (early voting began Sept. 19 and ended Nov. 4, 2025), so the required \u201censuing\u201d general election between two successive legislative approvals did not take place. Hurley also said lawmakers failed to provide required public notice\u2014such as posting the amendment at courthouses at least three months before the next ensuing election\u2014and therefore granted a temporary and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >permanent injunction requiring proper posting<\/a> at least 90 days before that election.The challenged amendment, which critics said could flip multiple Republican-held seats and produce a heavily Democratic congressional delegation, is currently enjoined in Tazewell County; Democrats, including House Speaker Don Scott, plan to appeal. Observers note the order is formally binding only in Tazewell County but likely complicates the amendment\u2019s path statewide unless reversed or stayed.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A Virginia judge has shot down efforts by state Democrats to gerrymander the commonwealth in their party&rsquo;s favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. <\/p>\n<p>In his Tuesday decision, Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley <a href=\"https:\/\/punchbowl.news\/tccc-mcdougle-v-nardo-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> that Democrat lawmakers unlawfully rushed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-2\/\" title=\"Judge: ... Dems&#039; Gerrymandering Ploy Is Illegal And Voided\">constitutional amendment proposal &#038;mdash<\/a>; which would allow them to redraw the state&rsquo;s congressional map &mdash; through the General Assembly. As The Federalist&rsquo;s Breccan Thies recently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/13\/virginia-democrats-move-to-establish-limitless-abortion-ban-guns-and-gerrymander-districts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Democrats&rsquo; proposed map &ldquo;could nuke up to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/virginiamercury.com\/2025\/12\/15\/ill-fated-gop-plot-foreshadowed-democrats-plans-for-2026-redistricting-redo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">four<\/a>&nbsp;Republican-held seats&rdquo; and create &ldquo;a potential [congressional] delegation of 10 Democrats and one Republican.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Under the <a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/constitution\/article12\/section1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Virginia Constitution<\/a>, proposed amendments must first be passed by both chambers of the General Assembly in two consecutive legislative sessions. Should they receive such approval, these measures are then submitted to voters for consideration &ldquo;not sooner than ninety days after final passage by the General Assembly,&rdquo; and must receive majority support from the electorate to ratify the state&rsquo;s founding document.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat-run General Assembly <a href=\"https:\/\/cardinalnews.org\/2025\/10\/31\/general-assembly-passes-constitutional-amendment-to-redraw-virginias-congressional-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a> the proposed redistricting amendment in October 2025 and <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ballotpedia.org\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-voters-to-decide-constitutional-amendment-allowing-legislative-congressional-redistricting-amid-recent-map-changes-in-six-other-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">again<\/a> earlier this month, with the hopes of sending it to voters for approval in an April special election so that the gerrymandered map could be used for the midterms later this year. Critics &mdash; which include the lawsuit&rsquo;s Republican plaintiffs and former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/29\/miyares-virginia-dems-last-ditch-gerrymandering-gambit-is-unconstitutional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a> that the General Assembly&rsquo;s October passage of the amendment was illegitimate because it occurred during early voting, and therefore, did not comport with the Virginia Constitution&rsquo;s requirement that there be an intervening general election between the legislature&rsquo;s twice approval of the resolution.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Under current Virginia law, the election voting process in Virginia spans 45 days. The closing of the polls on November 4, 2025 will be the culmination of the ongoing election process, which commenced September 19, 2025,&rdquo; Miyares wrote last year. &ldquo;Accordingly, because a general election of delegates is already underway, the November 4th culmination of this 2025 election cannot be deemed to be the &lsquo;<em>next<\/em>&nbsp;general election.&rsquo; It is the current general election.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Hurley agreed with such arguments in his Tuesday ruling. While acknowledging the constitutional requirement raised by plaintiffs and Miyares, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided-3\/\" title=\"Judge: ... Dems&#039; Gerrymandering Ploy Is Illegal And Voided\">circuit judge noted<\/a> that in order for him to &ldquo;find that the election was only on November 4, 2025, those one million Virginia voters&rdquo; who cast their ballots in the early voting process &ldquo;would be completely disenfranchised.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no rational conclusion except that the ELECTION <span>began<\/span> on the first day of voting (September 19, 2025) and <span>ended<\/span> on November 4, 2025. Therefore, the Court FINDS that following the October 31, 2025 vote and passage of House Joint Resolution 6007 there HAS NOT BEEN an ensuing election of the House of Delegates, and such ensuing general election CANNOT occur until 2027,&rdquo; Hurley wrote. &ldquo;Thus, the action of the General Assembly during its Regular Session 2026 CANNOT meet the second passage required of Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution, which second passage must occur before the same can be submitted to the voters of Virginia for adoption.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hurley went on to determine that Democrat lawmakers additionally did not adhere to Virginia law when it came to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-virginia-dems-gerrymandering-ploy-is-illegal-and-voided\/\" title=\"Judge: ... Dems&#039; Gerrymandering Ploy Is Illegal And Voided\">properly giving voters adequate time<\/a> to weigh in on the amendment. He noted how defendants conceded that the proposed amendment was not published by the clerk of the House of Delegates or posted &ldquo;at the front door of every Courthouse, &lsquo;not later than three months prior to the next ensuing general election&rdquo; for the House. <\/p>\n<p>The circuit judge noted that the &ldquo;sole purpose&rdquo; for such requirements is to &ldquo;provide voters with notice and information PRIOR to the election of the House of Delegates members who would be elected to vote on the proposed Constitutional Amendment for the second vote as required by the Constitution.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The court hereby GRANTS a TEMPORARY and PERMANENT INJUNCTION, requiring the Clerk of the Court of Tazewell County to post the proposed Constitutional Amendment at least ninety (90) days BEFORE the next ensuing election of the members of the House of Delegates election,&rdquo; Hurley wrote.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AssocAnderson\/status\/2016257611457298902?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> by attorney and former House of Delegate Tim Anderson, Hurley&rsquo;s ruling &ldquo;is a circuit court order, so it is formally binding only in Tazewell County &mdash; not statewide yet. But it squarely declares the process unconstitutional, forces an appeal, and seriously clouds the amendment&rsquo;s path unless reversed or stayed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He separately added, however, that, for now, the amendment is &ldquo;cooked.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Defendants &mdash; which includes Democrat House Speaker Don Scott &mdash; plan to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DemocracyDocket\/status\/2016271744068153619?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeal<\/a> the decision. <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Democrats got a smack down today in Tazwell<\/p>\n<p>Redistricting amendment has been enjoined from proceeding <\/p>\n<p>Watch the video! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X8FnGnTbYH\">pic.twitter.com\/X8FnGnTbYH<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Tim Anderson (@AssocAnderson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AssocAnderson\/status\/2016259734748242416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge blocks Democrats&#8217; rushed Virginia redistricting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2555320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Virginia-flag.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33740,22850,5468],"class_list":["post-2555319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-court-ruling","tag-gerrymandering","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Virginia-flag.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2555319"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2555323,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555319\/revisions\/2555323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2555320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2555319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2555319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2555319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}