Virginia voters narrowly approved a redistricting referendum Tuesday that would allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, a result that could flip Virginia’s delegation from a 6-5 Republican advantage to a 10-1 Democratic majority.
With 95 percent of the vote in, the referendum passed 51.4 percent to 48.7 percent, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 8:49 p.m.
The constitutional amendment, approved by the Virginia state Senate in January, strips the existing nonpartisan redistricting framework and hands mapmaking authority back to the Democratic-controlled legislature.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger cheered the outcome after the AP call.
“The voters of Virginia have spoken,” Spanberger said.
Former President Barack Obama had campaigned for the measure in the final hours, posting to X on Tuesday: “Virginia! Today is the last day to vote in the redistricting referendum.”
The effort followed months of Democratic pressure framing redistricting as a check on Trump administration priorities. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), speaking on MS NOW in early April, linked support for the measure directly to frustration over ICE funding and U.S. military operations against Iran.
“The Trump administration’s priorities are to fund ICE and continue forever wars,” Subramanyam said, arguing the political climate made referendum passage “going to be successful.”
Virginia Republicans opposed the referendum, warning that it would undo the bipartisan redistricting commission voters established in 2020, which was designed specifically to remove partisan influence from the mapmaking process. The narrow margin, a difference of roughly 81,000 votes out of more than three million cast, underscores how polarized the state has become heading into the midterms.
The new maps will now move through the Democratic-led legislature, with legal challenges widely expected.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
