Under a separate section added to the constitutional Schedule, that authority would apply only between Jan. 1, 2025, and Oct. 31, 2030, and only “in response to actions taken by another state” during that same period.
Democrats call amendment a safeguard, not a power grab
Democrats say the measure preserves Virginia’s 2020 independent redistricting commission while giving the General Assembly a narrow option to respond if GOP-controlled states redraw their maps mid-decade and alter national representation.
Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico, who is sponsoring the amendment, said the goal is to ensure that Virginians aren’t left disadvantaged by partisan remapping elsewhere in the country.
Speaking to reporters Monday evening — nearly 24 hours before the fleshed out proposal was released — Willett said Democrats were responding to a growing national pattern of Republican-led legislatures redrawing maps mid-decade.
“I think we were absolutely empowered to be here,” Willett said. “This is an attack on democracy, and our hand’s been forced here. This is not our choice to be here, but with this kind of attack, we’ve got to respond.”
He emphasized that the proposal does not dismantle the state’s independent redistricting system.
“We are still going to have a commission,” he said. “This is going to give us options, and an option that could or could not be exercised — that question’s actually going to be left to the voters to vote in a referendum as to whether we’ll have redistricting or not.”
Willett said the amendment would maintain the decennial redistricting schedule spelled out in the state Constitution, while giving future lawmakers flexibility to revisit congressional boundaries.
“There’s a decennial process for that, so we will absolutely stick to that,” he said. “This is to create, again, not a mandate, but an option, in the interim, in between those decennial redistrictings to do something when there’s an extraordinary circumstance.”
GOP, Miyares say Democrats missed the legal window for amendment
The amendment’s release followed hours of heated debate in the state Senate earlier on Tuesday, where Democrats and Republicans clashed over the timing and legality of advancing the proposal, introduced after more than a million Virginians have already voted.
Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to “ram through” a redistricting plan before voters go to the polls, while Democrats insist they are acting within their authority to safeguard fair representation.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Tuesday argued that the Democratic proposal violates the state Constitution’s intent that voters have a meaningful say before such measures move forward.
In a written opinion released Tuesday afternoon, Miyares said the proposed redistricting amendment cannot legally advance during the current election, citing the Virginia Constitution’s requirement for an intervening general election before such measures proceed.
Miyares said Article XII of the Constitution “clearly contemplates that there will be an intervening general election between the proposal of the amendment by one General Assembly and the referral of the amendment to the subsequent General Assembly.”
On Monday, Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Spotsylvania, had made a similar case as Miyares, arguing on the House floor that Democrats have already missed the legal window to advance a proposed redistricting amendment this year, pointing to a section of Virginia law that governs how constitutional changes must be made public before an election.
Under Code § 30-13, the clerk of the House of Delegates is required to distribute proposed constitutional amendments to local courthouses for public posting and inspection no later than three months before the next general election for the House of Delegates.
Orrock said that deadline has already passed, meaning the amendment could not be properly advertised in time for this November’s election.
Parties trade blows over Miyares opinion
Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones sharply criticized Miyares’ opinion in a statement Tuesday, casting it as a partisan effort aligned with the president and proof that “when Donald Trump said he could always count on Jason Miyares, this is what he meant.”
He accused the attorney general of “attempting to block a fair, legal process that would return power to Virginians,” adding that Miyares was “doubling down on his fealty to Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda.”
And Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, slammed the attorney general’s opinion on social media, accusing him of politicizing his office.
In a post on X, Surovell wrote that Miyares “has committed attorney general malpractice, abused his office for partisan gain and been wrong about dozens of other legal calls in the last four years — so why not add more to the list as he wraps up?”
In contrast, House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, hailed the opinion as a clear validation of Republican concerns that Democrats are acting outside the bounds of Virginia law.
Kilgore, a seasoned lawyer and legislator, said that Miyares’ analysis “gives legal weight to the obvious, common-sense reading of Virginia law.” He noted in a statement that “hundreds of thousands of Virginians have already cast their ballots in this election, as the 45-day early voting period sought by Democrats is ongoing.”
“The current general election began on September 19 and will conclude on November 4 at 7 p.m.,” Kilgore said. “The effort to ram through a constitutional amendment during an election flies in the face of Virginia’s constitutional and code-mandated public notice requirements.”
Spanberger backs keeping redistricting option open
The House Privileges and Elections Committee, chaired by Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, is expected to take up the amendment Wednesday afternoon.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said Monday she would not oppose the General Assembly’s effort to advance the proposed measure.
In an interview aboard her campaign bus, Spanberger told The Associated Press that she supports Democrats “keeping alive the option” to respond to other states that redraw their congressional maps for partisan advantage.
“While I like to plan for everything, on this one, because I’m on the bus tour, because we are eight days away (from Election Day), I’m like, I will let the General Assembly take this step, and then we’ll talk calendar issues later,” she said.
Her stance marks a subtle shift from comments she made in August, when she said she had “no plans to redistrict Virginia.”
Republican candidate for governor Winsome Earle-Sears denounced the proposed amendment outside the state Capitol Monday, lambasting it as an attempt to “dismantle the very independent redistricting commission that Virginia was voting for in a bipartisan majority.”
The issue has taken on new urgency for Democrats nationally. If the party were to gain just three more seats in the U.S. House, it could reclaim the majority, while Republican-led legislatures in states such as Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already approved new maps expanding GOP advantages.
If approved by both chambers, Virginia’s measure would still need to pass again in the next General Assembly session in 2026 and then win approval from voters in a statewide referendum before taking effect.
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene Wednesday at 11 a.m. to consider the procedural resolution that opened the door for redistricting-related measures during this special session.
This story was published by the Virginia Mercury via a partnership with Creative Commons. You may read the original story here.
