Virginia redistricting referendum was struck down 4-3 by the state Supreme Court on May 8, with Democrats immediately filing to appeal to SCOTUS
Summary
- The Virginia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Democrats violated procedural requirements when they placed the redistricting amendment on the April ballot.
- The court found that early voting had already begun when the legislature took its first vote in October 2025, incurably tainting the referendum.
- Democrats immediately filed to seek emergency relief from the US Supreme Court, warning the ruling silences the will of voters who approved the measure by 52%.
Virginia redistricting was struck down 4-3 by the state Supreme Court, with Democrats filing to appeal to SCOTUS. The court ruled on May 8 that Democratic lawmakers violated the state constitution’s multistep amendment process when they held the first vote on October 31, 2025, after early voting for that year’s House elections had already begun.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Arthur Kelsey, found the violation “incurably taints” the referendum result and “renders it null and void.” Democrats had spent more than $66 million campaigning for the measure, which passed 52% to 48% in the April 21 special election.
What the ruling means for the midterms
The decision kills a map designed to give Democrats 10 of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, a gain of four from the current 6-5 Democratic tilt. Without it, Republicans head into November with a decisive redistricting advantage nationally.
Issue One analysis, cited by CNBC, found that redistricting efforts over the past year could give Republicans as many as a 12-seat edge over Democrats absent Virginia’s map. Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana have all moved to redraw maps since the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling. As crypto.news reported, House control in November is also the key variable for the crypto industry’s legislative agenda in 2026.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the DCCC, said in a statement: “Four unelected judges decided to cast aside the will of the voters.” RNC Chair Joe Gruters countered that “Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose.”
What happens next
Virginia Democrats and Attorney General Jay Jones filed the same day to ask the state court to delay enforcing the ruling pending a SCOTUS appeal.
Constitutional law professor Carl Tobias at the University of Richmond warned that SCOTUS is unlikely to give the case full treatment this late in its term with elections approaching. Virginia’s primaries, pushed back to August 14 to account for the referendum, will now proceed under the existing 6-5 map.
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