Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

angrychair

(12,464 posts)
Fri May 8, 2026, 10:58 AM Friday

Virginia Redistricting is Dead

The court ruled that the state’s Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize the mid-decade redistricting. Voters narrowly approved the amendment April 21, but the court’s ruling renders the results of that vote meaningless.


Yet again Republicans seem to come out on top.
It's literally like we are cursed. Not sure how Republicans can, very literally, rape and steal and grift with impunity and it all still works out for them but Democrats seem to go one step forward, two steps back, every single time.

I shudder to think what the second half of this administration would like if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate. If all the Southern states redistrict, especially in light of this turn of events, we may be facing a permanent Republican majority. Our country will not survive that.
Reference: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-05-08/virginia-supreme-court-strikes-down-democrats-redistricting-plan-dimming-partys-midterm-hopes
95 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Virginia Redistricting is Dead (Original Post) angrychair Friday OP
Now, imagine this... our hopes are in the Florida state courts that they'll strike down the Florida map 😂 In It to Win It Friday #1
DeSatan installed all but 1 justices on the FLSC. I don't have high hopes here. Lochloosa Friday #12
Agreed. I'd be shocked if they actually strike down the map before the primaries. In It to Win It Friday #17
Trump said if you put him back in office Emile Friday #2
Truth! Mr.Bee 23 hrs ago #92
Great. 🤬 underpants Friday #3
It's what happens when only one side plays by the rules and always takes the high road. OGBuzz Friday #4
Truth Six117 Friday #45
If only there was some economic solution to all this. OGBuzz Friday #54
The problem is that your statement is not complete. OldBaldy1701E Yesterday #85
The USA is the biggest heap of bullshit on earth 31st Street Bridge Friday #46
Not totally true Abstractartist Yesterday #89
No disagreement from me. American democracy is coming apart and Democrats need OGBuzz Yesterday #91
Dead for this year, not forever Fiendish Thingy Friday #5
True angrychair Friday #10
Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami Fiendish Thingy Friday #20
That was before voter disenfranchisement angrychair Friday #38
Sorry to hear you have bought the mythology Fiendish Thingy Friday #61
Thanks for pointing this out. ShazzieB Friday #51
Exactly. There have been dozens of special elections since 2024 Wednesdays Friday #68
I don't trust any of those Trump voters or MAGA to do the right thing Bengus81 Friday #60
They're already doing it Fiendish Thingy Friday #63
But no poll anywhere ever showed her winning by more than maybe a point or 2 Callie1979 Yesterday #86
I wouldn't trust them blindly, either. ShazzieB 21 hrs ago #94
There is no world the GOP win the House. mr715 Friday #32
So why didn't you post that fact? Kingofalldems Friday #64
Why can't they call an emergency session? Diraven Friday #47
It wouldn't create the missing "intervening election" FBaggins Friday #74
Why is it dead? Baitball Blogger Friday #6
State Law Matter Aepps22 Friday #7
Yes, but in the law, no one prevails if they don't seek novel ways using the Court's own system of Baitball Blogger Friday #9
two can be denied by state legislature in 2028 but they house must stay blue. GreenWave Friday #22
There was a MAJOR thing that happened in popsdenver Friday #39
it's not the law that matter but the judges who interpret it AlexSFCA Friday #77
Florida, in particular, will have to overcome state law as well... assuming the state courts give a fuck. In It to Win It Friday #8
Yep. I wouldn't hang my hat on this one. Baitball Blogger Friday #11
Neither would I In It to Win It Friday #14
Narrator: Florida courts do not, in fact, care angrychair Friday #13
Florida............... popsdenver Friday #41
The article explains why. The legislature violated the set of rules laid out. Celerity Friday #15
More details for non-Virginians AverageOldGuy Friday #33
Florida is breaking its own state Constitution to redistrict. Baitball Blogger Friday #50
I think that Florida should be blocked from breaking its own rules/laws as well. Same for all states, both Red and Blue. Celerity Friday #53
It's part of the state constitution, not just a law Fiendish Thingy Friday #21
Thank MW67 Friday #80
Passing it requires an intervening election FBaggins Friday #31
Rupert Murdoch and the Heritage Foundation rigged the system. Initech Friday #57
We are in hell Billsdaughter Friday #16
Yup orangecrush Friday #25
We're living in a dictatorship that no longer Emile Yesterday #90
And a Republican party that's actively Billsdaughter 20 hrs ago #95
Tom "The Hammer" DeLay... GiqueCee Friday #18
It better not be. If the governor and the state party take this lying down, we're cooked. Queso Delicioso Friday #19
Agree orangecrush Friday #23
True, but the only recourse is taking it to the SCOTUS. FSogol Friday #27
That is the opposite of recourse In It to Win It Friday #28
The chance of the Republican USSC doing any good popsdenver Friday #43
I don't think scotus has jurisdiction in cases involving state law spooky3 Friday #55
There's always "ignore the court, do it anyway" Queso Delicioso Friday #62
This orangecrush Friday #24
That's irrelevant to the state constitution EdmondDantes_ Friday #56
Gonna be one long hot sumner orangecrush Friday #26
Oh believe me....... popsdenver Friday #44
Hillary said that in 90's... Wednesdays Friday #70
Well....... popsdenver Friday #73
I fault my home state...Texas. Our Governor (Abbott) willingly and happily kissed Trump's ass and start the entire mess. walkingman Friday #29
Regular DU readers will get tired of my saying this but I'll keep on saying it: AverageOldGuy Friday #30
But if Republicans won would the court have blocked block it? ChicagoTeamster Friday #34
No, because Rupert Murdoch has rigged the system. Initech Friday #36
absolutely blubunyip Friday #42
Bullshit. Fuck MAGA. Fuck Fox. Fuck them to fucking hell. Initech Friday #35
Not happy with this but we are beating their ass in November and VA can still gerrymander later! OrlandoDem2 Friday #37
Then they should just do it using the same rationale Figarosmom Friday #40
Virginia and California let THE VOTERS decide on their redistricting AdamGG Friday #48
So basically what's going to happen now Diraven Friday #49
Except that's not true EdmondDantes_ Friday #81
Dead, or shelved? EnergizedLib Friday #52
This was a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court. Lasher Friday #58
And America along with it Takket Friday #59
We're in civil war. The south attempts return to Jim Crow. Drumpf threatening nuclear, and SCOTUS is in his pocket. Evolve Dammit Friday #65
We HAVE been in a civil war, since B.See Friday #75
true. That's when the guns and ammo were flying off the shelves. I think you could say it never ended really. Evolve Dammit Yesterday #87
When the people are denied all legal and nonviolent means of effecting change... Orrex Friday #66
That's basically a paraphrase of AdamGG Friday #67
We're closer than we've been in a long time misanthrope Friday #72
It's almost as though our president is doing everything in his power Orrex Friday #78
This may have beenmentioned up the chain here, but why then can the Democrats not just gerrymander anyway like the GOP Scalded Nun Friday #69
Because they knew how to play the long game misanthrope Friday #71
This is when you know for sure the fix is in. OhioBack2Blue Friday #76
So if MW67 Friday #79
Just watch SSJVegeta Friday #82
Why? raising2moredems Friday #83
They are not winning. HeartsCanHope Yesterday #84
"Government of the people, by the people, for the people" is DEAD! Emile Yesterday #88
Republicans have gerrymandering down to an art Azathoth1 23 hrs ago #93

In It to Win It

(12,781 posts)
1. Now, imagine this... our hopes are in the Florida state courts that they'll strike down the Florida map 😂
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:11 AM
Friday

Six117

(362 posts)
45. Truth
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:36 PM
Friday

Which begs the question, why continue to play by rules that are obviously intended to keep us down?

We should and can do better.

OGBuzz

(518 posts)
54. If only there was some economic solution to all this.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:53 PM
Friday

The 24 blue states generate 60% of the U.S. GDP.
In 2020 Trump carried 2,497 counties which accounted for 30% of U.S. GDP, and Biden carried 477 counties which accounted for 70% of the U.S. GDP.
Without blue America, red America would be a third world country.

OldBaldy1701E

(11,471 posts)
85. The problem is that your statement is not complete.
Sat May 9, 2026, 07:05 AM
Yesterday

"If only there was some economic solution to all this that someone who has the ability to do so would actually implement."

There are plenty of 'solutions' to this.

We just don't seem interested in trying any of them.

Because we seem to have decided that history means nothing.

Abstractartist

(448 posts)
89. Not totally true
Sat May 9, 2026, 09:55 AM
Yesterday

This is what happens when you bring a box of cookies to a knife fight. Democrats are way too passive and somewhat out of touch. Send that strongly worded letters folks, instead of getting a little muddy.

I am 68 years old and have been a Kennedy liberal since I was able to vote…. I’ve lived through many great things the democrats have done for this country, but seeing what is happening with our party and leadership now, i’m not confident my grandkids are going to be able to have what I did.

OGBuzz

(518 posts)
91. No disagreement from me. American democracy is coming apart and Democrats need
Sat May 9, 2026, 10:20 AM
Yesterday

leaders who will take the fight to MAGAts. The current leadership ain't it.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,916 posts)
5. Dead for this year, not forever
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:34 AM
Friday

The ruling laid out what was wrong with the process, which the legislature can reverse engineer and try again, probably next year.

angrychair

(12,464 posts)
10. True
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:43 AM
Friday

But by then it will be too late and Republicans could very likely stay in control of the House and Senate for the remainder of his current term and I don't see how we get out of this with our country intact with another two years of this.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,916 posts)
20. Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:34 PM
Friday

With 2024 Trump +20 districts swinging 15-30 points to the Dems in election after election over the past year, even the desperate Hail Mary gerrymandering won’t save them.

angrychair

(12,464 posts)
38. That was before voter disenfranchisement
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:18 PM
Friday

And before this state supreme court loss as well. It's before a formal election which I am positive will include armed (frozen water) and likely even armed military troops stationed outside polling locations harassing people or intimidating people as they approach their polling stations.
Republicans have no intentions of giving up control of government peacefully.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,916 posts)
61. Sorry to hear you have bought the mythology
Fri May 8, 2026, 03:05 PM
Friday

For everyone else, never forget this one absolute truth:

Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless.

Their desperate Hail Mary gerrymandering won’t save them.

ShazzieB

(22,823 posts)
51. Thanks for pointing this out.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:48 PM
Friday

I know Dems have had a lot of wins since Trump 47 took office but I haven't been keeping close track. That sounds even better than I realized.

No matter what else happens in the next 6 months, I know the midterms are going to be a nail biter for a lot of us just because the stakes are so high. But victory will be even sweeter if Demicrats can blow past all these nakedly desperate attempts to steal congressional seats from us!

Wednesdays

(23,043 posts)
68. Exactly. There have been dozens of special elections since 2024
Fri May 8, 2026, 05:22 PM
Friday

...and the only Democratic loss that I know of was Georgia-14 (MTG's former district). And even then, Democrats gained 15 percent over the last election.

Bengus81

(10,340 posts)
60. I don't trust any of those Trump voters or MAGA to do the right thing
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:57 PM
Friday

Talk is big by RW'ers when interviewed months away from an election. Hell, I figured Harris for a at least 10 point victory when Trump told everyone he'd be a dictator if re-elected.

Fiendish Thingy

(23,916 posts)
63. They're already doing it
Fri May 8, 2026, 03:09 PM
Friday

They elected Dems for mayor in Miami, flipped state seats in Texas, and even put 3 Dems on a utility board in Georgia that hadn’t had a Dem on it for 30+ years, and many, many special and regular elections in other states.

All of those wins would not have been possible if Republicans hadn’t voted for the Dem candidates.

Callie1979

(1,393 posts)
86. But no poll anywhere ever showed her winning by more than maybe a point or 2
Sat May 9, 2026, 08:35 AM
Yesterday

It was worse election week. I wasnt surprised at all. Just depressed the whole day.

ShazzieB

(22,823 posts)
94. I wouldn't trust them blindly, either.
Sat May 9, 2026, 12:39 PM
21 hrs ago

But there's one thing that's different now: a WHOLE LOT of them are hella pissed off at him these days! His approval ratings are so far underwater, they'd have to fall imto the Mariana Trench to get any lower! We didn't have anything like that going for us in 2024.

A lot can happen between now and November, but I feel hopeful right now.

Diraven

(1,941 posts)
47. Why can't they call an emergency session?
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:36 PM
Friday

And redo the districts right away? That's what all the southern Republican states did right after the SC struck down the VRA.

FBaggins

(28,731 posts)
74. It wouldn't create the missing "intervening election"
Fri May 8, 2026, 05:52 PM
Friday

The constitutional requirement isn’t that they vote twice… it’s that they vote twice with a general election in between.

So they can pass it again (for a new referendum) in November for 2028

Baitball Blogger

(52,682 posts)
6. Why is it dead?
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:36 AM
Friday

Why can't they follow the Supreme Court ruling and just pass it in the legislature?

You do realize that Florida and other states are going to do just that, right? It's not too late in this opera of corruption until the fat lady sings.

Aepps22

(410 posts)
7. State Law Matter
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:38 AM
Friday

This is a state law matter which is why this happened. The VA SC intentionally ignored the plain text of the VA constitution and prior precedence to come to this conclusion.

Baitball Blogger

(52,682 posts)
9. Yes, but in the law, no one prevails if they don't seek novel ways using the Court's own system of
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:42 AM
Friday

justice. The Right is singular at this, only because they break the ruling whenever it suits them. We just need to come up behind them using the sloppy path they left behind. In time, people will recognize that this bizarre world this crooked Supreme Court has set up for us is unsustainable.

popsdenver

(2,559 posts)
39. There was a MAJOR thing that happened in
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:19 PM
Friday

the 2000 election........The "States Rights" voting matters were violated by the U.S. Supreme Court, that had absolutely no legal standing or right to interfere in Florida's Presidential counting of votes.......But they did...................
The ABSOLUTE WORST THING..... is their corruption, having been allowed, became a precedent, that the Supremes could then use in the future....

That was only one of the countless number of things that the dems didn't protest BIG TIME in the past 46+ years.....
The Republicans have been playing multi dimensional chess since HWBush treasonously installed Reagan in 1980, while the Dems are STILL trying to learn how to play checkers.......

In It to Win It

(12,781 posts)
8. Florida, in particular, will have to overcome state law as well... assuming the state courts give a fuck.
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:41 AM
Friday

Baitball Blogger

(52,682 posts)
11. Yep. I wouldn't hang my hat on this one.
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:45 AM
Friday

I hope Alex Vindman prevails. But seriously, we have powerful Democrats here who have cozied up with Republicans for so long, that he would have to break the feudalistic good ole boy network that exists here. He allows even one of them into his breakfast circle and he can just assume that every GOP member will know what he's planning by lunchtime.

angrychair

(12,464 posts)
13. Narrator: Florida courts do not, in fact, care
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:46 AM
Friday

They are there to enforce the will of the Republicans in office.

popsdenver

(2,559 posts)
41. Florida...............
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:23 PM
Friday

The only state that could vote in, as one of their U.S. Senators, the CEO of a company that defrauded Medicare of 1.4 Billion....
...........UN-FATHOMABLE................

Celerity

(54,801 posts)
15. The article explains why. The legislature violated the set of rules laid out.
Fri May 8, 2026, 11:53 AM
Friday

snip

The case before the court focused not on the shape of the new districts but rather on the process the General Assembly used to authorize them. Because the state’s redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, lawmakers had to propose an amendment to redraw the districts. That required approval of a resolution in two separate legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between, to place the amendment on the ballot.

The legislature’s initial approval of the amendment occurred last October — while early voting was underway but before it concluded on the day of the general election. The legislature’s second vote on the amendment occurred after a new legislative session began in January. Lawmakers also approved a separate bill in February laying out the new districts, subject to voter approval of the constitutional amendment. Judicial arguments focused on whether the legislature’s initial approval of the amendment came too late, because early voting already had begun for the 2025 general election.

Attorney Matthew Seligman, who defended the legislature, argued that the “election” should be defined narrowly to mean the Tuesday of the general election. In that case, the legislature’s first vote on the redistricting amendment occurred before the election and was constitutional, he told judges. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Thomas McCarthy, argued that an “election” should be interpreted to cover the entire period during which people can cast ballots, which lasts several weeks in Virginia. If that’s the case, he told justices, then the legislature’s initial endorsement of the redistricting amendment came too late to comply with the state constitution.

In January, a judge in rural Tazewell County, in southwestern Virginia, ruled that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session last fall. Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. also ruled that lawmakers failed to initially approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year’s general election and that the state had failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law. As a result, he said, the amendment is invalid and void.

snip

AverageOldGuy

(4,119 posts)
33. More details for non-Virginians
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:10 PM
Friday

Rural Tazewell County is in SW Virginia -- coal country, central Appalachia.

SW VA localities voted 75% - 85% for Trump.

Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. is a local boy, comes from a long line of moonshiners and bootleggers.

Standing in front of the Tazewell County Courthouse where Judge Hurley holds forth is the statue of a Confederate soldier. The Confederate Monument in Tazewell County, Virginia, a white bronze "Common Soldier" statue erected in 1903, stands in front of the county courthouse at 101 Main Street. In November 2020, over 87% of voters rejected a proposal to relocate the statue, deciding to keep it in place.

Baitball Blogger

(52,682 posts)
50. Florida is breaking its own state Constitution to redistrict.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:46 PM
Friday

Not sure why the Dems are expected to follow State Law when the Red States aren't following suit.

Celerity

(54,801 posts)
53. I think that Florida should be blocked from breaking its own rules/laws as well. Same for all states, both Red and Blue.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:52 PM
Friday

Fiendish Thingy

(23,916 posts)
21. It's part of the state constitution, not just a law
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:37 PM
Friday

Changing the constitution in VA requires a very specific process, which, right or wrong, the court determined was not followed.

The legislature waited until the TX redistricting case had been adjudicated, which didn’t leave them enough time to follow the process without leaving any room for interpretation.

FBaggins

(28,731 posts)
31. Passing it requires an intervening election
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:04 PM
Friday

They’re required to pass it twice - with an election in between the two votes. So they can pass it a second time after November (to take effect in the ‘28 election)

Initech

(109,162 posts)
57. Rupert Murdoch and the Heritage Foundation rigged the system.
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:38 PM
Friday

The republicans think they own everything and are entitled to all the power. They will get theirs eventually.

Billsdaughter

(175 posts)
95. And a Republican party that's actively
Sat May 9, 2026, 02:12 PM
20 hrs ago

supporting it, along with their constituents.

For me, this truly is hell.

GiqueCee

(4,639 posts)
18. Tom "The Hammer" DeLay...
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:30 PM
Friday

... promised his cronies and cohorts a permanent Republican majority. Looks like he might get his wish, God damn him to hell.

Queso Delicioso

(209 posts)
19. It better not be. If the governor and the state party take this lying down, we're cooked.
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:33 PM
Friday

If the people can vote, be told no, and we just wring our hands and say "oh well, we tried" then faith in the party will plummet even lower than it already has.

FSogol

(47,659 posts)
27. True, but the only recourse is taking it to the SCOTUS.
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:52 PM
Friday

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but not liking our chances.

popsdenver

(2,559 posts)
43. The chance of the Republican USSC doing any good
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:27 PM
Friday

for anything that favors the Dems, or citizens of the U.S. are about as good as pissing in the ocean and expecting it to change color.......

spooky3

(38,829 posts)
55. I don't think scotus has jurisdiction in cases involving state law
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:28 PM
Friday

Could be wrong—not an attorney

What they could do is repeat the votes in legislature following the constitutional process to the letter. Then do the referendum again. Elias may have a better way.

Can’t get it done in time for this fall but could for 2028.

For 2026, Dems could pick up 2 seats even without redistricting.

orangecrush

(30,980 posts)
24. This
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:49 PM
Friday


“…Despite the redistricting measure’s success at the polls, the justices were ultimately not deterred from overriding the voters.”
❗️❗️❗️

SammyTheCat (@sammythecat.bsky.social) 2026-05-08T15:02:22.317Z

EdmondDantes_

(2,021 posts)
56. That's irrelevant to the state constitution
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:32 PM
Friday

The court didn't say anything about the districts, just the process which is clear.

popsdenver

(2,559 posts)
44. Oh believe me.......
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:35 PM
Friday

as the Republican 2025 CABAL accelerates each and every day, things are gonna get a hell of a lot worse.............
You.Ain't.Seen.Nothing.Yet.Folks...........

(CABAL....the contrived schemes of a group of persons, secretly united in a plot)

Hillary Clinton was quoted back in 2016, saying that there was a "giant right wing conspiracy", and even dems laughed at her.....

popsdenver

(2,559 posts)
73. Well.......
Fri May 8, 2026, 05:44 PM
Friday

I seem to recall it from the debates during 2016.....so maybe she was just repeating it......It certainly was alot more applicable in 2016........

walkingman

(11,113 posts)
29. I fault my home state...Texas. Our Governor (Abbott) willingly and happily kissed Trump's ass and start the entire mess.
Fri May 8, 2026, 12:56 PM
Friday

AverageOldGuy

(4,119 posts)
30. Regular DU readers will get tired of my saying this but I'll keep on saying it:
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:04 PM
Friday
THE SOUTH HAS WON THE CIVIL WAR.

Initech

(109,162 posts)
36. No, because Rupert Murdoch has rigged the system.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:11 PM
Friday

Fox News has done more damage to the United States than Osama Bin Laden ever would or could.

Initech

(109,162 posts)
35. Bullshit. Fuck MAGA. Fuck Fox. Fuck them to fucking hell.
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:10 PM
Friday

The government is ours. It does not belong to Rupert Murdoch no matter how much he believes he is entitled to it.

OrlandoDem2

(3,240 posts)
37. Not happy with this but we are beating their ass in November and VA can still gerrymander later!
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:16 PM
Friday

I hope the Democrats use this to rally voters. Democrats need to have a chip on their shoulder and go fight!

Figarosmom

(13,054 posts)
40. Then they should just do it using the same rationale
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:20 PM
Friday

Repubs are using. Supreme Court ruling blah, blah, blah.

AdamGG

(1,895 posts)
48. Virginia and California let THE VOTERS decide on their redistricting
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:39 PM
Friday

Abbott, Desantis, and the right wing car dealer in Missouri jammed their new maps through gerrymandered Republican state legislatures.

Yet, the voters of Virginia are invalidated in the courts, while the very partisan politicians in Texas are not. It's a rigged game. Madison and Hamilton and the rest would go back to the drawing board if they saw this.

Diraven

(1,941 posts)
49. So basically what's going to happen now
Fri May 8, 2026, 01:42 PM
Friday

Every Republican state will eliminate every Democratic district which is, of course, allowed. But if Democrats try to eliminate even 1 single Republican district, that's never allowed. Looks like Republicans will achieve a veto-proof supermajority in the House in 2026 and until the end of time then, regardless of how the vote goes. Even if any Democrat ever wins the presidential election again they can be immediately impeached and removed. I'm just done.

EdmondDantes_

(2,021 posts)
81. Except that's not true
Fri May 8, 2026, 09:56 PM
Friday

California redistricted just fine. Virginia would have if they followed their constitution. Utah had to redistrict in our favor.

Lasher

(29,645 posts)
58. This was a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court.
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:40 PM
Friday

All 4 Republicans voted to kill the redistricting plan, and all 3 Democrats dissented.

Takket

(23,778 posts)
59. And America along with it
Fri May 8, 2026, 02:45 PM
Friday

Now that rethugs are freely allowed to gerrymander out any blue dots and the courts rule the exact opposite for democrats, it’s highly unlikely democrats will win the house. Ironically we thought the senate was a long shot but now it is the only thing on the table.

This may be the death blow to America once and for all. Minority rule forever.

Evolve Dammit

(21,813 posts)
65. We're in civil war. The south attempts return to Jim Crow. Drumpf threatening nuclear, and SCOTUS is in his pocket.
Fri May 8, 2026, 03:46 PM
Friday

B.See

(8,764 posts)
75. We HAVE been in a civil war, since
Fri May 8, 2026, 06:29 PM
Friday

the Obama presidency.

Republicans secretly met the night of his inauguration and took an oath to undermine, oppose, and repudiate him at every turn.

Evolve Dammit

(21,813 posts)
87. true. That's when the guns and ammo were flying off the shelves. I think you could say it never ended really.
Sat May 9, 2026, 08:38 AM
Yesterday

Orrex

(67,351 posts)
66. When the people are denied all legal and nonviolent means of effecting change...
Fri May 8, 2026, 04:47 PM
Friday

then they will find other means of effecting change.

Orrex

(67,351 posts)
78. It's almost as though our president is doing everything in his power
Fri May 8, 2026, 08:45 PM
Friday

to weaken, isolate, diminish, and destabilize the nation for the benefit of the hostile foreign power to whom he's deeply in debt.

Almost.

Scalded Nun

(1,728 posts)
69. This may have beenmentioned up the chain here, but why then can the Democrats not just gerrymander anyway like the GOP
Fri May 8, 2026, 05:24 PM
Friday

is doing in other states.

What really disgusts and saddens me is that the only 2 state that has their redistricting plan halted by the court is one of the only 2 states that have had the voters go to the polls to approve the action.

And this is what the GOP calls a democracy.

misanthrope

(9,605 posts)
71. Because they knew how to play the long game
Fri May 8, 2026, 05:42 PM
Friday

This hasn't been overnight. They have been probing for a century. They have been planning and organizing for over a half century, starting with the Southern Strategy. The Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, the Kochs and right-win mediasphere, it is all part of a larger, more patient effort.

MW67

(212 posts)
79. So if
Fri May 8, 2026, 09:07 PM
Friday

Republican Governor's and state legislators can pass redistricting laws without a vote, could someone tell me why the Virginia Governor and legislators couldn't do that now? , They have the will of the people with them, if it's some state law that prevents it being done that way in VA. Change the law, with a clause that it sunsets on the last day of the current Governor's term , just like you know who ,would do

HeartsCanHope

(1,744 posts)
84. They are not winning.
Sat May 9, 2026, 01:44 AM
Yesterday

They are cheating. It may feel the same, but they are digging themselves a bigger and bigger hole. The anger against

the Trumplicans is palpable. More and more people are speaking out against them. We need to get the vote out--

in such large numbers we overwhelm them. That's how Hungary beat Orban. We can do it, too.

In the words of one of my favorite movies, "Never give up, never surrender!"

Azathoth1

(3 posts)
93. Republicans have gerrymandering down to an art
Sat May 9, 2026, 11:34 AM
23 hrs ago

They have been open about the fact that gerrymandering and exploitation of the undemocratic nature of the Electoral College are fundamental pillars of their party's long-term survival and dominance strategy. While Dems sat complacently waiting for old white boomers to die off, clinging to the (now largely false) assumption that a younger, more diverse electorate by definition guaranteed them larger and larger majorities, the GOP for almost 30 years now have been figuring out how to use structural loopholes to negate that perceived advantage.

They have entire think-tanks who keep updated blueprints for gerrymandering every state where it might be meaningful.

And that doesn't just mean demographic analysis and maps with proposed new district boundaries. It also includes analysis of state laws and procedures and ready-to-go roadmaps for rushing redistricting through when the conditions are in place.

Dems are attempting to reinvent the wheel at the last moment.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Virginia Redistricting is...