{"id":2600502,"date":"2026-05-08T17:24:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T21:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-redistricting-ruling-sparks-democratic-finger-pointing\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T17:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T21:27:14","slug":"virginia-redistricting-ruling-sparks-democratic-finger-pointing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-redistricting-ruling-sparks-democratic-finger-pointing\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia redistricting ruling sparks Democratic finger-pointing"},"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\">12<\/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%2Fvirginia-redistricting-ruling-sparks-democratic-finger-pointing%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=2600502&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 are trading blame after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a congressional redistricting referendum. The court said lawmakers approved the amendment too late-after more than a million early votes were already cast-because Virginia requires constitutional amendments to advance through two legislative sessions with an election in between.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling preserves the current court-drawn congressional map,keeping the 6-5 split between parties instead of a proposed plan that would have favored Democrats with 10 of 11 seats. Democrats questioned whether their campaign for the referendum was doomed by delays,mixed messaging,and a rushed rollout. Some pointed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger\u2019s shifting stance-first distancing herself and later supporting the measure-as a source of voter confusion, while others argued responsibility lay with legislators rather than the governor and broader national escalation over maps driven by GOP redistricting elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans hailed the decision as a major win likely to help protect the GOP\u2019s House majority, arguing the Democrats\u2019 45-day early voting period functionally derailed the effort and that the referendum cost ample taxpayer money, including expenses tied to running the election. Still, Democrats contend the ruling doesn\u2019t end their chances and suggest republicans may be overextending in other states, potentially creating vulnerabilities ahead of upcoming elections.  <\/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<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/virginia\/\">Virginia<\/a> Supreme Court\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/x\">decision<\/a> striking down <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\">Democrats<\/a>\u2019 congressional <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4560836\/virginia-democrats-vow-continue-redistricting-fight\/\">redistricting referendum<\/a> is fueling finger-pointing inside Democratic circles, with strategists and operatives openly questioning whether delays, mixed messaging, and a rushed rollout doomed the effort from the start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, we were caught flat-footed once again,\u201d one Virginia-based Democratic strategist told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, speaking on the condition of anonymity. \u201cThe redistricting battles on the Republican side have been going on for a while now, and our side should have been more proactive and saw this coming earlier. Since we didn\u2019t do that, it is now costing us this midterm election.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4560958\/spencer-pratt-sheds-joke-label-as-momentum-grows-la-mayoral\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Spencer Pratt sheds \u2018joke\u2019 candidate label as momentum grows in LA mayor race<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4560836\/virginia-democrats-vow-continue-redistricting-fight\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Virginia Democrats signal they may continue redistricting fight<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4559287\/la-mayor-nithya-raman-breakthrough-spencer-pratt-attack\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>LA mayor hopeful Nithya Raman struggles to breakthrough amid Spencer Pratt onslaught<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4551658\/virginia-supreme-court-blocks-redistricting-referendum\/\">4-3 opinion <\/a>written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, the court found lawmakers approved the amendment too late, after more than a million early votes had already been cast in last year\u2019s elections. The state constitution requires proposed amendments to be considered across two legislative sessions with an election in between, giving voters a chance to weigh in through their representatives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The ruling blocked Democrats\u2019 attempt to redraw Virginia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-house-speaker-starts-process-for-mid-decade-redistricting\/\" title=\"Florida House speaker starts process for mid-decade redistricting\">congressional map ahead<\/a> of the midterm elections, preserving the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >current court-drawn 6-5 delegation split<\/a> instead of creating a map where Democrats would be favored to win 10 out of 11 seats.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Democratic strategist Ben Tribbett said Democrats lost valuable time after Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) initially distanced herself from the effort on the campaign trail last summer before later embracing it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Louise Lucas first said that she wanted to do this in August, [Spanberger] immediately came out and said she did not want to do it,\u201d Tribbett said. \u201cHad Abigail come out and said, \u2018Yes, we need to get this done. I support it completely,\u2019 we might have done it faster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even some Democrats who opposed the referendum acknowledged the party\u2019s rollout created confusion.<\/p>\n<p>Brian Cannon, a Democrat and advisory council member for the anti-gerrymandering group No Gerrymandering Virginia, argued Spanberger\u2019s evolving position on the referendum created confusion for voters after she initially distanced herself from the proposal before later becoming one of its most visible supporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat really happened is you got mixed messages from the governor,\u201d Cannon said. \u201cVirginia voters got a mixed message from Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cannon argued that the court\u2019s decision ultimately hinged on how late lawmakers acted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPassing this on Oct. 31 was illegal,\u201d Cannon said, referring to the amendment\u2019s approval after early voting had already begun. \u201cHad they done this on August 31, according to the court\u2019s opinion, it would have passed muster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But other Democrats rejected the criticism directed at Spanberger. Virginia Democratic strategist Jared Leopold called attempts to blame the governor \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was running for governor in August,\u201d Leopold said. \u201cThis was a decision that happened by legislators in office at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leopold instead framed the referendum as part of a broader national escalation over congressional maps fueled by Republican-led redistricting efforts in southern states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats are ready to push back,\u201d Leopold said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to sit there and bring a knife to a gunfight anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Democrats disagreed over who deserved blame, Tribbett argued the ruling itself was narrowly focused on timing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to this court ruling today, that was the only reason the Supreme Court struck it down,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the language, it wasn\u2019t the administration of the election. It was the timing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, Tribbett cautioned Democrats against turning on each other too aggressively in the immediate aftermath of the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think today is the day to point fingers back,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone can point fingers at each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The failed effort had become a centerpiece of the national redistricting war. Virginians for Fair Elections raised more than $64 million backing the referendum, including nearly $40 million from a group aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Supporters also outspent opponents 10-to-1 on television ads, while former President Barack Obama appeared in statewide ads backing the measure.<\/p>\n<p>Spanberger, for her part, said she was disappointed by the ruling but urged Democrats to stay focused on the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia\u2019s ruling,\u201d Spanberger said in a statement. \u201cBut my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we \u2014 the voters \u2014 will have the final say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling as a major victory that could help preserve the GOP\u2019s House majority. Virginia Republican strategist Brian Kirwin said Democrats\u2019 attempt to fast-track the referendum ultimately backfired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 45-day early voting period destroyed their redistricting effort,\u201d Kirwin said. \u201cThey created their own problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kirwin also criticized the amount of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-billion-in-fraudulent-pandemic-relief-funds-returned-to-u-s-government\/\" title=\"+ Billion in Fraudulent Pandemic Relief Funds Returned to U.S. Government\">taxpayer money spent<\/a> on the failed effort. Virginia Democrats, who control both chambers of the General Assembly, approved $5 million in state funding tied to election administration, early voting operations, and voter education efforts connected to the referendum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s taxpayers who had to pay the cost of holding that election,\u201d Kirwin said. \u201cLocalities across the commonwealth had to hold an election, shut down schools, all for an illegal referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The decision could also reshape the battle for control of the House, Kirwin argued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis potentially was 10-1, and now it\u2019s 6-5,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think the math is on the Republican side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, Democrats argued the ruling does not eliminate their path back to the majority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s no question this makes the hill to climb a little harder for Democrats,\u201d Leopold said. \u201cBut fundamentally, Trump can rig the map, but he can\u2019t seem to improve his approval rating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leopold also argued Republicans could be overextending themselves by aggressively redrawing districts in multiple states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing in these other states is that Republicans are spreading their votes super thin,\u201d Leopold said. \u201cThey may be vulnerable in a Democratic wave to losing some of the seats that they had counted as safe seats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4560781\/republicans-virginia-map-overturned-four-gop-seats\/\"><strong>REPUBLICANS BREATHE SIGH OF RELIEF AFTER VIRGINIA MAP OVERTURNED, POSSIBLY SAVING FOUR GOP SEATS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) echoed that sentiment while blasting the court\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am confident that Democrats will still be in the majority next year,\u201d Subramanyam told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cBut this decision is absolutely outrageous in the context of Republicans gerrymandering across the country with no judges blocking that, but the judges block the will of millions of Virginians. This is judicial activism at its worst.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Supreme Court ruling sparks in-house Democratic finger-pointing over delays and mixed messaging<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2600503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25107754170245.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3685,16985,5782,5468],"class_list":["post-2600502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democrats","tag-redistricting","tag-ruling","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25107754170245.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600502","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\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2600502"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600506,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600502\/revisions\/2600506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2600502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2600502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2600502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}