A local resident’s phone screen is illuminated with updates of Virginia’s congressional redistricting vote during a watch party at Inca Social on April 21, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. Democratic congressional candidate Adam Dunigan hosted the “Congressional District Divorce Party” alongside other Democratic candidates.Heather Diehl/Getty Images
The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday rejected the state's redistricting proposition, representing a considerable letdown for Democrats who anticipated the fresh arrangement would enable them to gain up to four congressional seats.
In a 4-3 judgement, the Virginia Supreme Court indicated that the Democratic-controlled assembly breached procedural mandates when submitting the measure to the ballot. Virginia citizens sanctioned the ballot measure in a recent election last month.
The state's High Court declared that Virginia will be required to employ its congressional map from 2021 instead.
The determination is a triumph for Republicans, who are now expected to obtain more seats than Democrats in the current, nationwide mid-decade redistricting contest.
Virginia intends to appeal the judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court, Virginia legislators stated on Friday in a filing requesting the Virginia Supreme Court to postpone its ruling.
Earlier on Friday, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, conveyed that his staff is endeavoring to pursue "every lawful avenue to defend the will of the people and safeguard the integrity of Virginia's elections."
President Donald Trump lauded the decision in a message on his social media site.
"Significant victory for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia," Trump penned. "The Virginia Supreme Court has just overturned the Democrats' dreadful gerrymander. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Virginia presently has six Democratic members of the U.S. House and five Republicans, a ratio that will likely remain in effect as opposed to the 10 Democratic and 1 Republican delegation Democrats were desiring to elect under the revised map.
The newly enacted Republican-leaning congressional maps in Tennessee and Florida are undergoing their own separate judicial challenges. The ruling on Friday is particular to Virginia and does not affect those maps.
A local resident’s phone screen is illuminated with updates of Virginia’s congressional redistricting vote during a watch party at Inca Social on April 21, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. Democratic congressional candidate Adam Dunigan hosted the “Congressional District Divorce Party” alongside other Democratic candidates.Heather Diehl/Getty Images
The Virginia Supreme Court determined that legislators missed the timeframe to place the redistricting vote on the ballot since early voting for the 2025 election had already commenced.
According to Virginia’s constitution, lawmakers must sanction a constitutional amendment twice and conduct an election in between.
Democrats contended that the prerequisite pertained solely to Election Day itself and not the early voting phase. The court asserted early voting is legally part of the election, implying the process had already begun before legislators acted.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger invested significant political influence on endorsing the measure, which became a crucial point just a few months into her governorship, although it was initially championed by the state legislature and during her time on the campaign trail she indicated not being interested in redistricting.
“More than three million Virginians cast their ballots in Virginia’s redistricting referendum, and the majority of Virginia voters voted to push back against a President who said he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress with a temporary and responsive referendum. They made their voices heard,” Spanberger wrote in a declaration on Friday.
“I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling, but 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 — the voters — will have the final say.”
In a dissent, three justices wrote, "Today the majority has broadened the meaning of the word 'election,' as used in the Virginia Constitution, to include the early voting period. This is in direct conflict with how both Virginia and federal law define an election."
The redistricting measure had triggered multiple prominent Democrats — including former Mike Pence aide Olivia Troye and former first lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe — to initiate campaigns for Congress. The circumstance that they'd now have to contend under the prior map may alter their strategy.
ABC News' Emily Chang aided in this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com