This is why you don’t celebrate too early. The Democrats believed they had the game in the bag. They thought they were in the clear until procedures and the rule of law caught up with them. The Virginia Supreme Court invalidated their gerrymandered map that narrowly passed in April. There were already warning signs: the court refused to grant a stay from Attorney General Jay Jones, which could’ve certified the results as the legal process continued. The refusal to challenge the map’s legality virtually guaranteed that the outcome could go either way. Some Democrats noted that the court’s decision not to dismiss the injunction against certification reduced the chances of a liberal victory to less than 50 percent.
HUGE: The Virginia Supreme Court has overturned the Democrats' gerrymandering referendum pic.twitter.com/ohnc4A5LkK
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 8, 2026
https://t.co/WfZaGpHE49 pic.twitter.com/RY34iu6nD2
— Republicans (@Republicans) May 8, 2026
Boy oh boy. The redistricting war is shaping up to be a major win for Republicans.
— Zachary Donnini (@ZacharyDonnini) May 8, 2026
That means the U.S. House is very much on the table in 2026.
Our forecast will update soon to reflect the new landscape, we'll be hard at work today. https://t.co/Tc7iS38xZO
CNN political analyst admits Democrats suffered a HUGE loss today in Virginia:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 8, 2026
"This is a BIG blow. Hakeem Jeffries […] Obama was in on this […] It has been a big, BIG waste of money."pic.twitter.com/zspz3mWzZt
Now, the day has come, and the Democrats have lost. Hakeem Jeffries, Barack Obama, and the entire Democratic leadership in Richmond look like fools. Reportedly, many told their colleagues about the tight timeline and how the procedures made this push full of legal landmines. To add, it seems the Democrats’ favorite voting method was what did them in: early voting. And that is what was argued before the court in late April (via Daily Caller):
🚨 WEEKS ago, Republicans warned Virginia Democrats that the state’s massive early voting window could sink their redistricting referendum.
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 8, 2026
Today, the Virginia Supreme Court effectively agreed — ruling the measure violated Virginia’s constitutional amendment process because… pic.twitter.com/GTQxQZkYqi
… former Virginia Attorney General and head of the Election Transparency Initiative, Ken Cuccinelli, laid out the current and potential future cases before the Virginia Supreme Court that are challenging the state’s attempt to gerrymander its congressional map in favor of Democrats as the midterm elections approach.
[…]
“The Democrat-controlled General Assembly did that very quickly and rather by surprise,” Cuccinelli said. “Six weeks into Virginia’s seven-and-a-half-week election and after a million people had already voted.”
The Democrat’s attorney argued … that although ballots had been cast before the General Assembly’s vote, the process remains constitutional because those ballots were not counted until Election Day.
“So your position requires us to interpret election in such a manner that literally, every single vote that is cast for whatever the office is, is cast before the election even begins,” Justice Wesley Russell asked Matthew Seligman, the Democrats’ attorney.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Seligman responded.
Other aspects were argued, all of which are deeply grounded in procedure and the state constitution.
Rachael Bade, formerly of Politico, noted the four tenets at the heart of this case, and that the majority of the court agreeing to just one invalidates the map:
- That Democrats failed to provide a required 90-day notice before the election.
- That Democrats used “misleading” ballot language when they framed the question as one of “fairness.”
- That they didn’t follow the statute requiring an “intervening election” of the House of Delegates between two votes approving a constitutional amendment.
- And that the special session was invalidly called and used to advance the effort.
Axios has more, but the text message they received from a House Democrat over this lost legal fight says it all. They are gutted from this decision [emphasis mine]:
Another House Democrat, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, offered a one-word reaction in a text message to Axios: "F*****ck!!"
What they're saying: "We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision. No matter what it takes," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement,
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement, "This is a setback that sends a terrible message to Americans – the powerful and elite will do everything they can to silence you.
Driving the news: The Virginia Supreme Court overturned the results of an April referendum that temporarily suspended the state's independent redistricting commission.
Democrats had been aiming to implement maps that would turn their party's current 6-5 edge in the state's U.S. House delegation into a 10-1 advantage as a way to counter GOP redistricting in Texas and elsewhere.
The ruling gives Republicans a decisive edge in the mid-decade redistricting war.
GOP state lawmakers are moving to gerrymander a slew of Southern states based on a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court weakening the Voting Rights Act.
As we’ve seen many times with Democrats, they cheat. They can’t win, so they cheat, and in this case, not so well.
VA Supreme Court Ruling on Redistricting by Matt Vespa
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