Virginia Supreme Court nullifies Democrats’ redistricting referendum

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News May 8, 2026

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Democrat Party’s redistricting referendum, which was passed by voters, violates the state’s constitution.

The Virginia redistricting map was declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.

“On March 6, 2026, the General Assembly of Virginia submitted to Virginia voters a proposed constitutional amendment that authorizes partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts in the Commonwealth,” read the court’s decision. “We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia.”

The court added: “This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”

Due to Friday’s ruling, Virginia will maintain its current congressional districts, with six Democrat districts to the Republican Party’s five.

Had leftist Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s redistricting scheme been allowed to proceed, the new map almost certainly would have wiped out four GOP districts, giving Democrats a 10-1 advantage in the 2026 midterms.

President Donald Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social: “Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia. The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander.”

Specifically, the state Supreme Court said that Spanberger and Democrats violated a specific constitutional requirement to hold a public referendum on redistricting:

“To guard against hasty changes to the Commonwealth’s organic law, Article XII, Section 1 also slow-walks the constitutional-amendment process,” wrote the Court. “The General Assembly must twice vote in favor of a proposed amendment at two separate legislative sessions with an intervening election of the House of Delegates.”

In Virginia, the state constitution requires that the legislature approve a proposed amendment twice—once before and once after an election of state lawmakers. Democrats approved the map the first time shortly before the 2025 election. The Virginia court’s majority ruled that vote didn’t qualify as before the election, since early voting had already begun.

The state spent $5.2 million of taxpayer funds to pay for the special election, and mostly-leftist outside groups raised nearly $100 million to sway voters.

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, said in a statement: “We respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia.”

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones blasted the ruling as politically motivated and said his office is reviewing “every legal pathway forward.” That could include an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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