Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has until February 11 to determine if she will sign legislation setting up a special election on April 21 to let voters decide if the Commonwealth’s Congressional borders should be redrawn to favor Democrats in the November general election.
The Virginia General Assembly has twice passed a Constitutional amendment to allow a one-time redistricting intended to counter efforts to redraw districts for Republican advantage in other states.
However, in late January, Tazewell County Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled that votes by the House of Delegates and the Senate last October do not count as a mandated first reference because the majority party did not have unanimous consent to amend the terms of a special session to allow consideration of the amendment.
Democratic defendants immediately appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Today the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the President of the Senate officially signed legislation giving Governor Spanberger a week. The bill also amends the budget to direct $5 million to localities to cover the expenses of the April 21 special election if it is held.
HB1384 also seeks to retroactively amend Virginia law back to July 1, 1971 to address some of the concerns in Hurley’s ruling.
Soon afterwards, the Court of Appeals issued a motion asking for the matters to go straight to the Virginia Supreme Court because the questions raised are “of such imperative public importance as to justify the deviation from normal appellate practice.”
Take a look at that motion here.
New to this topic? Here’s a lot of background from previous reporting:
- Virginia General Assembly has begun consideration of Congressional redistricting during special session, October 29, 2025
- Constitutional amendment for Virginia redistricting passes House, awaits action in Senate, October 31, 2025
- Virginia Senate passes first reference of Constitutional amendment to allow mid-Census redistricting, November 6, 2025
- Special election on redistricting highly likely this spring on new Congressional maps in Virginia, January 18, 2026
- Tazewell County judge invalidates redistricting amendment; Democrats to appeal, January 31, 2026
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