{"id":2600475,"date":"2026-05-08T16:13:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T20:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:14:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T20:14:52","slug":"with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/","title":{"rendered":"VA Dems Have Done More For GOP Than Indiana Republicans"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fwith-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans%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=2600475&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>Virginia Democrats attempted to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map to favor their party, but the plan was struck down by the Virginia Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The court said the Democrats\u2019 approach violated the state constitution\u2019s requirement that constitutional amendments go through an intervening election-because the referendum was passed with insufficient separation from the legislative action.<\/p>\n<p>The article argues that this failed effort ultimately benefited Republicans beyond Virginia: it triggered or accelerated redistricting moves in other Republican-led states, including florida. It also highlights the political cost-Virginia spent millions on the special election adn outside groups spent even more on advocacy-suggesting the setback helped Democrats lose their own goal while giving GOP redistricting momentum.<\/p>\n<p>The piece contrasts this with Indiana, where republicans reportedly did not pursue redistricting as aggressively and where several GOP state senators voted against redistricting.The author concludes that Virginia Democrats effectively did \u201cthe work\u201d that some republicans were unwilling to do, contributing to a wider expansion of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >republican electoral opportunities nationally<\/a>.  <\/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 class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:2026_Virginia_Redistricting_Amendment_Sign.jpg\">Jschiarizzi\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/deed.en\">Public Domain<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/08\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=With Gerrymandering Backfire, VA Dems Have Done More For GOP Than Indiana Republicans&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/08\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=With Gerrymandering Backfire, VA Dems Have Done More For GOP Than Indiana Republicans&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/08\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/08\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=With Gerrymandering Backfire, VA Dems Have Done More For GOP Than Indiana Republicans&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/08\/with-gerrymandering-backfire-va-dems-have-done-more-for-gop-than-indiana-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Virginia Democrats tried to rig the state\u2019s congressional map 10-1 in their party\u2019s favor. Instead, they just handed Republicans a big redistricting win that Republican-controlled Indiana refused to deliver.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia Supreme Court struck down Democrats\u2019 proposed redistricting map as unconstitutional on Friday, and as The Federalist\u2019s Assignment Editor Elle Purnell pointed out, \u201cVirginia Democrats have done more to deliver seats for Republican voters than Indiana Republicans have.\u201d In other words, Virginia\u2019s warped gerrymandering scheme was a driving force behind GOP decisions to redistrict in Florida and other red states.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2304422129\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"apr20A\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Virginia Democrats have done more to deliver seats for Republican voters than Indiana Republicans have. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hZTvSNqmhs\">https:\/\/t.co\/hZTvSNqmhs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elle Reynolds Purnell (@_ellepurnell) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_ellepurnell\/status\/2052766161389990208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vacourts.gov\/static\/opinions\/opnscvwp\/1260127.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">held<\/a> that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-democrats-sued-for-brazen-effort-to-split-jewish-vote\/\" title=\"New York ... Sued for \u2018Brazen\u2019 Effort To Split Jewish Vote\">proposed gerrymandered map<\/a> that would have eradicated four Republican held seats violated the state\u2019s constitution. The 4-3 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vacourts.gov\/static\/opinions\/opnscvwp\/1260127.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decision<\/a> noted that constitutional amendments must be passed by two different General Assembly sessions before they can be presented to voters, \u201cmandating an intervening election of the legislature to give the voting public a chance to kick out legislators if citizens do not like a referendum that went through the initial passage phase,\u201d The Federalist\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/28\/to-virginia-supreme-court-democrats-lawyer-admits-gerrymandering-vote-is-irrelevant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Breccan Thies<\/a> explained. Democrats passed the referendum on Oct. 31, 2025, just days before Nov. 4 Election Day and weeks after the start of early voting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this case, the Commonwealth submitted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pas-democrat-secstate-resigns-after-botching-process-over-amendment-for-child-sex-abuse-victims\/\" title=\"PA\u2019s Democrat SecState Resigns After Botching Process Over Amendment For Child Sex Abuse Victims\">proposed constitutional amendment<\/a> to Virginia voters in an unprecedented manner that violated the intervening-election requirement in Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia,\u201d the court ruled. \u201cThis violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The massive failure was not cheap, with the state spending more than $5 million to pay for the special election while activist organizations raised upwards of $60 million to mislead voters on the proposition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/richmond\/2026\/05\/08\/virginia-supreme-court-redistricting-vote-decision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Axios<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>But the political cost for Democrats seems to exceed the monetary cost. <\/p>\n<p>Virginia Democrats didn\u2019t merely lose their own attempted power grab. They helped escalate a national redistricting fight that Republicans were better positioned to win. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/abc3340.com\/news\/nation-world\/virginia-redistricting-referendum-supreme-court-democrats-republicans-florida-governor-ron-desantis-abigail-spanberger-special-election-gerrymander\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ABC 33\/40<\/a>, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state\u2019s new map to \u201cerase Democrats\u2019 four-seat gain in their gerrymander push in Virginia.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/04\/23\/politics\/florida-redistricting-virginia-referendum-ron-desantis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN<\/a> seemed to indicate in April that Virginia\u2019s referendum galvanized a push for redistricting in Republican states as well. As Federalist CEO Sean Davis <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/seanmdav\/status\/2052760310109311225?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pointed out<\/a>, Democrats\u2019 Virginia gambit gave the GOP redistricting efforts in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/05\/07\/tennessee-redistricting-voting-rights-black\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tennessee<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/alabama-redistricting-map-congress-voting-rights-trump-81f6a232ea75a9d62efe3e40f14f8488\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alabama<\/a> additional momentum.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, once Virginia Democrats made clear they were willing to disenfranchise half their state, any lingering restraint Florida and other Republican-led states may have had went out the window, and after the Supreme Court\u2019s decision clarifying Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/04\/another-racial-gerrymander-bites-the-dust-desantis-approves-new-florida-map-ahead-of-midterms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Republicans had every reason to create new maps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Democrats tried to add four seats and failed, but in the process they inspired Republican states to redistrict and secure additional seats for the party. In other words, Virginia Democrats have likely done far more to expand the Republican map than the Indiana Republicans who refused to redraw their map months ago.<\/p>\n<p>Last year <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/15\/the-indiana-redistricting-fail-is-a-lot-more-complicated-than-pro-trump-vs-anti-trump\/\">21 out of 40 Republican<\/a> state senators voted against redistricting the Hoosier State, which currently has <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/United_States_congressional_delegations_from_Indiana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two Democrat seats and seven Republican seats<\/a>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/5863653-indiana-state-senate-trump-challengers-win\/\">Of the seven incumbent GOP <\/a>senators who voted no on redistricting, five lost their primary bids just this week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wthr.com\/article\/news\/local\/state-senate-republican-primary-district-23-too-close-to-call-spencer-deery-paula-copenhaver\/531-56d386ff-c5d6-48ba-92aa-9204307fcfe0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with one race still to be called<\/a>.) Notably, 59 percent of Indiana voters voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. As state Sen. Liz Brown pointed out in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/16\/why-should-indiana-give-democrats-more-seats-than-massachusetts-gives-republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">these pages<\/a>, Republican voters in Indiana currently hold an advantage similar to that held by Democrats in Massachusetts, yet <em>none<\/em> of the Bay State\u2019s nine congressional seats is held by a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily for Republican voters, Virginia Democrats inadvertently did the work that <em>some<\/em> Republicans were unwilling to do themselves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/florida\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/gerrymander\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">gerrymander<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/indiana\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Indiana<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/redistricting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">redistricting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ron DeSantis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/virginia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Virginia<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Democrats tried to rig the congressional map for their party, but their efforts instead delivered a major redistricting win to Republicans-something Indiana\u2019s GOP leadership refused to do<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2600476,"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\/05\/2026_Virginia_Redistricting_Amendment_Sign-e1778262172154.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[32923,6571,7006,32085,5468],"class_list":["post-2600475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-democratic-party","tag-elections","tag-indiana","tag-republican-party","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_Virginia_Redistricting_Amendment_Sign-e1778262172154.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600475","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\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2600475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600479,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600475\/revisions\/2600479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2600475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2600475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2600475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}