Virginia Supreme Court Hands Dems Huge Win, Allows Outrageous Gerrymander to Move Forward

Democrat-led gerrymandering lives to see another day in the Old Dominion after the Supreme Court of Virginia (SCOVA) ruled Friday that a redistricting referendum can proceed on April 21.

 

Republicans had argued that the referendum should be paused following a lower court ruling that found Democrats had "failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session; failed to approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year’s general election; and failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law."

 The Supreme Court of Virginia has taken over the redistricting amendment case — and refused to stop the April 21 referendum.

The Court denied the motions to stay, meaning the constitutional amendment vote will go forward before the Court decides the merits.

In short: Virginians… pic.twitter.com/qZmsG5Itvg

— Tim Anderson (@AssocAnderson) February 13, 2026

The Supreme Court of Virginia has taken over the redistricting amendment case — and refused to stop the April 21 referendum.

The Court denied the motions to stay, meaning the constitutional amendment vote will go forward before the Court decides the merits.

In short: Virginians will vote first. The Supreme Court will rule later.

Or for a bunch of fancy legal words: this sucks.

As RedState has previously reported, the referendum in question seeks to replace an existing amendment to the state constitution that gives authority to redraw congressional boundaries to a redistricting committee – this amendment was approved by Virginians in 2020 – with an amendment that gives that power, instead, to lawmakers. Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, so that essentially means the amendment would empower them to set the congressional map. 

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READ MORE: (Updated) Virginia Democrats Just Engineered the Most Extreme Gerrymander in the Country

Democrats Are One Step Closer to Nuking Most of Virginia's GOP Congressional Seats

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To get here, Democrats defied a state law that requires proposed amendments be published at least three months before an election. They, instead, published it mere days before the November 2025 election; they are now seeking to redefine that law and make it retroactive to all the way back to 1971, when the law was first passed.

Democrats released their gerrymandered map last week. Their proposed map, which they will adopt if the April referendum is approved by voters, will eliminate most of the congressional seats currently held by Republicans. The 6-5 split that currently favors Democrats would turn into a 10-1 split that would neuter the GOP and disenfranchise large swaths of voters in the red parts of the commonwealth.

Democrat leaders, needless to say, are thrilled with SCOVA's ruling and are taking a victory lap.

“Today the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed what we already know, Virginians will have the final say,” Speaker Don Scott just said in a statement to me. “The redistricting referendum on April 21 will move forward."

The commonwealth's new governor is also reported to be "happy" over the development.

I asked @GovernorVA if she was happy that the referendum was moving forward.

"I am focused on having clarity for us to be able to communicate to people. It's not necessarily an emotional issue for me. It's a question of whether voters know when and how they can make their… https://t.co/QqMarYgRyC

— Tyler Englander (@TylerEnglander) February 13, 2026

I asked @GovernorVA if she was happy that the referendum was moving forward. 

"I am focused on having clarity for us to be able to communicate to people. It's not necessarily an emotional issue for me. It's a question of whether voters know when and how they can make their voices heard," Governor Spanberger said.

There is a silver lining in SCOVA's ruling: they have indicated they will decide the merits of the lower court ruling after the referendum takes place.