Virginia Dems accused of illegally ‘steamrolling’ state law that could upend redistricting crusade

Virginia voters are set to decide a redistricting referendum Tuesday, even as a high-stakes legal challenge before the state’s Supreme Court argues the amendment should be invalidated because it was pushed through an unlawfully extended legislative session.

The case centers on whether lawmakers violated the Virginia Constitution by keeping the special session open for nearly two years to pass the redistricting measure, a move critics say was an abuse of legislative authority. The measure, if it passes Tuesday and survives state Supreme Court scrutiny, would reshape the state’s congressional map so that Democrats have a 10-1 advantage in the upcoming midterms.

“The voters are the first hope that we have, and the best one,” Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, told Fox News Digital, warning that if the referendum passes, the Supreme Court decision could be “the last chance” before the next census to challenge the map.

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Snead’s group this week submitted a brief to Virginia’s highest court making the case that the legislative special session was improperly extended.

“If you look at what the Constitution of Virginia requires and what the law requires, it’s very clear that what happened here was an illegally extended special session that essentially turned a part-time legislature into a full-time one,” Snead said. “They kept it open for nearly two years and then used that to push through a constitutional amendment — and we think that’s a blatant violation of the limits the Constitution puts on legislative power.”

Virginia Democrats, led by Gov. Abigail Spanberger and House Speaker Don Scott, passed an amendment this year that they argued allowed them to bypass the typical redistricting process in the state to shift the current 6-5 map to 10-1. Scott told reporters in February the move was a direct response to national redistricting fights playing out across the country.

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“This is about leveling the playing field across the country. Republicans are gerrymandering maps to override the will of the voters,” Scott said. “We just saw it in Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. At Donald Trump’s direction they’re manipulating election maps because they know they can’t win on their agenda in 2026. … A 10-1 map levels the playing field.”

Democrats have argued to the Supreme Court that the General Assembly has broad constitutional authority to manage its own legislative sessions and procedures, including extending a special session, and that nothing in the Virginia Constitution explicitly prohibits how this particular session was handled. 

The Honest Elections Project’s brief argues otherwise.

“If you look at what the law requires, it’s very clear that Governor Spanberger and her allies are steamrolling the process to try to launch a power grab,” Snead said

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The Supreme Court decided in March to allow the referendum vote to move forward while it considers Republicans’ arguments challenging how the map amendment was passed by way of a special session.

“It is the process, not the outcome, of this effort that we may ultimately have to address,” the state’s highest court found. “Issuing an injunction to keep Virginians from the polls is not the proper way to make this decision.”

The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case April 27 and a decision could come anytime after that.

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s and Scott’s offices for comment.