VA Democrats Push To Redraw House Maps To Gain More Seats: Reports

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia Democrats are preparing to take the first step toward redrawing congressional district maps, a move that could give the party two or three more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to multiple reports.

The plan would make Virginia the second state, after California, to attempt to counter a wave of redistricting in several other states that will give Republicans an advantage heading into the 2026 midterm elections, The New York Times reported.

Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats. Redistricting could deliver two or three additional seats for the party, according to the Times, depending on how districts are redrawn.

“We are coming back to address actions by the Trump administration,” Scott Surovell, the majority leader of the Virginia Senate, said in an interview with the Times.

Two Democratic state senators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also confirmed the plans to The Washington Post.

According to the Post, lawmakers were expected to take the first steps by calling the Virginia General Assembly into special session as early as Thursday. The process would involve multiple hurdles, including passing a measure to advance the plan before the upcoming statewide elections on Nov. 4.

However, a report from the Virginian-Pilot said the General Assembly is expected to convene at 4 p.m. Monday, according to a letter House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat from Portsmouth, sent to members of the House of Delegates on Thursday.

The letter did not say whether the legislature would address the redistricting plans, but said the House would meet to “consider matters properly before the ongoing 2024 Special Session I and any related business."

The Republican Attorneys General Association on Thursday condemned the call for a special legislative session as a Democratic ploy to divert attention from Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones. WAVY reported a special prosecutor has been appointed amid questions on whether Jones served some of the community service hours for his own political action committee after a reckless driving conviction in 2022 in New Kent County.

Virginia Democrats are in full panic mode," said RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper. “Instead of calling for Jay Jones to drop out because of his murderous text message and being the subject of a criminal fraud investigation — they're playing partisan games, forcing lawmakers to return to Richmond for a special session that's a bigger farce than Jay Jones' community service.”

This summer, President Donald Trump urged Republican-led Texas to reshape districts so the GOP could win more seats in next year’s elections, jump-starting an offseason redistricting battle. The Republican Party typically loses congressional seats in midterm elections and the president is trying to buck that trend. Democrats need to gain just three seats to take control of the House.

In August, Texas lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional districts to give Republicans a shot at winning five more seats. Democratic-led California responded with a redistricting plan intended to help Democrats win more seats, though it still needs voter approval.

Leaders in other Democratic-leaning states, such as Maryland, New York and Illinois, have said they’re considering their own mid-decade redistricting plans.

Last month, Republican-led Missouri adopted revised districts aimed at helping the GOP win another seat. And on Wednesday, North Carolina lawmakers gave final approval to a revised map that is intended to help Republicans win an additional seat in next year’s elections.

Redistricting remains under consideration in several other states, including Indiana and Kansas, where Republican lawmakers are gathering petition signatures from colleagues in an effort to call a special session for congressional redistricting.

U.S. House districts are typically redrawn once a decade, immediately after a census, but some states allow it to happen more frequently. The U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no federal curb on political gerrymandering, in which districts are intentionally drawn to favor one party.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.