The Virginia Supreme Court on May 8 struck down a Democratic-backed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting, nullifying the results of the April 21 special election and preserving the state’s existing congressional maps for the 2026 midterms and beyond.
The move blocks a proposed map that analysts said could have given Democrats a 10-1 advantage in Virginia. The current 6-5 Democratic majority will remain in place.
In their 4-3 decision, the court upheld a lower court ruling that found the Democratic-led General Assembly violated the Virginia Constitution’s amendment process. Under state law, constitutional amendments must pass during two separate legislative sessions with a general election held in between so voters have a chance to weigh in before the measure advances. Lawmakers instead approved the measure during a special session in late 2025 and again in January 2026, without an intervening election.
Justice Arthur Kelsey, writing for the majority, stated that the “violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”
Kelsey argued that the process denied Virginians a meaningful opportunity to weigh in on the constitutional amendment. The ruling affirms the decision by Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley, who blocked certification shortly after the election, as Zeale News previously reported.
The amendment, passed by voters April 21 by a 51-49 margin, would have allowed lawmakers to temporarily redraw the state’s 11 congressional districts before the 2030 census.
After the vote, several Republicans, including President Donald Trump, called the ballot language misleading. The amendment asked whether the state constitution should be amended “to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes” after the 2030 census.
Virginia’s Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones condemned the ruling, saying in a statement shared with Virginia Mercury that the court “has chosen to put politics over the rule of law.” He said the decision disregarded the will of Virginians who voted on the amendment.
“It fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy,” he added.
Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle praised the decision as one that “affirms what we all know: you cannot violate the Constitution to change the Constitution.”
“This ruling is not a partisan one — it is a constitutional one,” McDougle said, according to Virginia Mercury. “The rule of law is the foundation of our Commonwealth, and today it has been upheld. Every Virginian wins.”
Trump called the ruling a “huge win for the Republican Party, and America” in a May 8 Truth Social post.
“The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander,” he added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Virginia high court’s ruling is the latest in a wave of redistricting developments across several states in recent weeks. On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. That ruling tightened the legal standard on when states may draw majority-minority districts. The New York Post reported Republicans could gain as many as 14 U.S. House seats through redistricting efforts in several states in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.