A Virginia judge granted the Republican National Committee a temporary restraining order that halts Virginia Democrats’ gerrymandering efforts to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the upcoming midterms.
The Republican National Committee brought a lawsuit Wednesday to stop what the organization describes as an unconstitutional last-minute power grab by Virginia Democrats. Filing a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, the RNC asked the court to block the implementation of the proposed constitutional amendment. According to local media, Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. granted the RNC motion on Thursday.
As The Federalist’s Breccan Thies reported on the proposed constitutional amendment, Virginia Democrats are “rigging the statewide vote … with proposed ballot language that euphemistically describes the lopsided redistricting map as a plan ‘to restore fairness.’”
The ballot question asks voters whether the state Constitution should “be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
As Thies explained, the redistricting measure would virtually ensure that Virginia has 10 Democrat representatives in the U.S. House and only one Republican. Currently there are five Republican congressmen from Virginia, along with six Democrats. Notably, nearly half of Virginians (more than two million) supported Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and yet “fewer than 800,000 will be properly represented in Congress under the new map,” Thies reported.
Hurley previously ruled Virginia Democrats’ efforts to gerrymander the state ahead of November’s midterms ran afoul of state law, but the state’s Supreme Court greenlit Democrats’ efforts and overturned the lower court ruling in February. The high court’s swift reversal of Hurley’s previous ruling raises the question of how long his Thursday ruling will stand.
The RNC lawsuit alleged, in part, that the ballot question “presents ‘an entirely different question’ than the General Assembly’s joint resolution proposing the amendment.”
“It fails to inform Virginia voters that the ‘proposed constitutional revision results in the loss or restriction of an independent fundamental state right.’ … It does not tell Virginia voters that the proposed amendment that they are considering strips them of their constitutional right to a nonpartisan redistricting process.”
The lawsuit also alleged that in order for a constitutional amendment to be put before voters, “majorities in both legislative houses” must “vote in favor of a proposed amendment twice — with an intervening election in between” before the General Assembly is allowed to”submit such proposed amendment” to “the voters.” The suit argues that the measure was not properly adopted according to such rules and is an “abuse of power” because it “trampl[es] on the ‘procedural rights of the minority’ of the General Assembly.” Further, Democrats passed the measure “in violation of the rules of the House of Delegates,” the suit says.
The RNC further argued that the court previously held the “General Assembly proposed a constitutional amendment to allow for mid-decade partisan redistricting in violation of the careful constitution-making process that the people of Virginia established.”
The suit also noted a potential issue with early voting beginning on March 6, 2026. According to the lawsuit, state law requires a minimum 90-day period between the General Assembly approving the measure a second time and the measure being put before voters. Notably, March 6 is not 90 days “after final passage by the General Assembly,” as the suit pointed out. Final passage took place on Jan. 16, and therefore the suit alleged that the “earliest that voting can begin [on the amendment] is April 16, 2026.”
Additionally, the RNC told the court that HB 1384 is unconstitutional because “it combines multiple objects in a single piece of legislation.” The state constitution stipulates that “no law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title.” The suit alleged that Democrats crammed several proposals into one bill. The RNC said such grouping renders the entire bill “null and void” because it unconstitutionally “embrace[s] more than one object.”
“Virginia Democrats are trying to ram through an illegal redistricting scheme that a court has already called a blatant abuse of power,” said RNC Chairman Joe Gruters. “Despite nearly half of Virginians supporting President Trump, Abigail Spanberger and Democrats are working to silence voters and lock in permanent political control. They’re ignoring the state Constitution, misleading voters, and rushing a sham election. The RNC is stepping in to stop this power grab and defend Virginia voters who would be effectively disenfranchised by Democrats.”
