Virginia court allows Democrats’ redistricting vote in their plan to counter to Trump

The Virginia Supreme Court cleared the way for a special election April 21 in which voters will be asked to allow congressional redistricting before the November elections.

Though a Republican challenge remains in court, the ruling Friday is a boost for Democrats’ efforts to counter the Republican-led redistricting President Trump has set off in other states.

Republicans had sued to block the redistricting, alleging that Democrats in the Virginia Legislature did not follow the proper process when they set the special election. A circuit court judge in rural Virginia ruled in Republicans’ favor Jan. 27 and Democrats appealed that ruling.

The state supreme court said that it would still hear arguments about the issues and did not grant the Democrats’ appeal but the court wrote that has “no effect on the referendum scheduled for April 21.” It set deadlines for the submission of arguments after the election.

Democrats took it as a sign they have court backing to hold the referendum. Democratic Speaker of the Virginia House Don Scott said the fact the court let the election proceed while it considers the case “tells you everything you need to know.”

Virginia Republicans see it as a power grab, Democrats point to other states

Republicans say the redistricting is a partisan power grab that will leave their party’s representation in Congress lower than the portion of Republican residents.

A top Republican acknowledged the election was on but said the party would continue to fight the case. “That just shows that we’ve got to win the referendum and we got to win in court. I think we can do both,” Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore said.

Democrats have proposed a new voting map that could help their party win four more seats in the House, converting the state’s delegation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and one Republican.

They argue they are responding in kind to the Republican-led redistricting Trump has started in other states. At his urging last summer, Texas Republicans redrew that state’s voting map to help the GOP win five more seats. Republicans in Missouri and North Carolina also redistricted for a seat in each state.

Democrats in California, in a process similar to the one Virginia has started, won voter approval to counter Texas and draw a new map that could help them win five seats in November.

Overall, Republicans still lead the redistricting scramble by a couple seats and Virginia’s new map could still be followed by Republicans in Florida tilting some seats their way in April.

Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term could hinge on Republicans maintaining their narrow lead in the House of Representatives, which would stave off possible Democratic efforts to block his policies and launch investigations into his administration.

Jahd Khalil covers Virginia politics for VPM.