Tazewell County judge issues second injunction against redistricting

A Tazewell County Circuit Court judge has granted a second preliminary injunction to stop a special election from being held this spring to ask Virginia voters if they want to adjust Congressional districts to give Democrats an advantage in the mid-term elections.

In late January, Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled that Democrats did not have the authority last fall when they used a special session to adopt a first reference of a Constitutional amendment to allow a mid-decade redistricting.

The Virginia Court of Appeals forwarded the matter directly on to the Virginia Supreme Court which will not hear arguments in the case until after the April 21 election. In the meantime, the top court is allowing early voting to begin on March 6.

Two Republican members of Virginia’s congressional delegation as well as the Republican National Committee filed suit on February 18 arguing that the usage of the phrase “restore fairness” on the ballot question.

“If anything, it destroys fairness, is the product of unfairness and is intended to increase unfairness,” reads paragraph 17 of the suit.

“It does not ‘restore fairness’ to replace a nonpartisan redistricting process through an independent commission with a partisan one through a body that is made up of a majority of only one political party,” reads paragraph 19.

Democrats have a 64 to 36 majority in the House of Delegates and had a 21 to 19 majority in the Virginia Senate when they passed a second reference as one of their first actions of the 2026 General Assembly.

This second lawsuit focuses on HB1384 which set the date of the special election. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the legislation on February 6.

The Republican plaintiffs argue this is in violation of Virginia law.

“The Constitution requires, at a minimum, 90 days between final passage and submission to the voters,” reads paragraph 22. “Yet, under HB 1384, voting on the amendment will begin on March 6, 2026.”

Democrats drew a map intended to give their party a majority in ten of Virginia’s eleven districts.

Judge Hurley issued a second ruling after a hearing on Thursday that repeated many of the same arguments in the first injunction. He said he finds it likely that the Plaintiffs will prevail on the merits of the case.

“The Court finds that Plaintiffs will be irreparably harmed absent injunctive relief because of the numerous violations of the constitutional amendment process and because Congressmen [Ben] Cline (R-6) and [Morgan] Griffith (R-9) would be irreparably harmed by their districts changing at this juncture,” Hurley wrote.

Defendants in the case have sought to change the venue from Tazewell County but Hurley denied that request.

“This is a different case with different plaintiffs and different defendants concerning a different statute (HB1384) and a different issue (the propriety of the referendum),” Hurley wrote.

The ruling orders the immediate stop to preparation for the special election until March 18.

Meanwhile, the Democratic majority continues to make changes to the maps through amendments to the budget bill, HB29.

• View the Proposed 2026 Virginia Congressional Map here. (Updated 2/17/2026)
• View the Data Table for the Proposed 2026 Virginia Congressional Map here. (Updated 2/17/2026)
• Download the shapefile and block equivalency files for the Proposed 2026 Virginia Congressional Map here. (Updated 2/17/2026)

The City of Lynchburg would be included within the new Sixth District. On Monday, the City Council will go into closed session to receive legal advice about the situation.

“Additionally, a resolution declining to commence early voting prior to expiration of constitutional waiting period will be considered,” reads a meeting notice.

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