Virginia's 10-1 Democratic Gerrymander Struck Down by State Supreme Court

Virginia's Supreme Court threw out a sweeping Democratic gerrymander in a 4-3 decision on Friday, just two weeks after 3.1 million Virginians voted to approve it — 51.7% to 48.3%. The ruling is a significant blow to Democratic redistricting ambitions heading into the 2026 midterms and a rare instance of a court overturning a voter-approved referendum on procedural constitutional grounds.

The court's central finding, written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, was that the amendment was never properly proposed in the first place. Virginia's constitution requires redistricting changes to pass through the legislature twice with an intervening election in between. But lawmakers first approved the gerrymandering amendment on October 31, 2025 — by which point 'over 1.3 million votes had been cast,' approximately 40% of that election cycle's total. Kelsey argued that Virginians who cast early ballots 'unknowingly forfeited their constitutionally protected opportunity to vote for or against delegates who favor or disfavor amending the Constitution.'

Democrats had been racing to match Republican redistricting moves in Texas and elsewhere, spurred by pressure from President Trump. They reportedly bet that if the amendment won at the ballot box, the court would hesitate to strike it down — a gamble that failed. The WSJ editorial board notes dryly that the state 'insisted that we cannot lawfully decide this case prior to the referendum,' which essentially forced the court to rule afterward or abandon judicial review entirely.

The immediate practical effect: Virginia's 2026 midterms will be held under the existing map, which is split 6-5 in favor of Democrats — a result the editorial describes as 'more or less fairly reflecting the state's purple politics.' Meanwhile, Tennessee has drawn a new 9-0 Republican map that would eliminate the state's only Democratic congressman by splitting a majority-Black Memphis district currently held by Rep. Steve Cohen, who is white. The editorial suggests Republicans are currently winning the gerrymander wars overall, though notes the risk of spreading GOP voters too thin across swing districts.

The WSJ editorial board calls the Virginia ruling 'gutsy' but correct, warning broadly that gerrymandering on both sides is 'not healthy for competitive two-party politics' — pushing candidates toward partisan extremes and allowing politicians to choose their voters rather than the other way around.