State Democrats are pushing ahead with their plan to help fight back against President Donald Trump’s attempt to tilt the midterm elections in his favor.
Virginia Democrats approved a new congressional map on Tuesday intended to help their party fight back against President Donald Trump’s attempt to put his thumb on the scales of this fall’s midterm elections.
Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates and the state Senate each advanced the new congressional map in separate votes. The bills that passed will have to be approved by the other chamber and then by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Depending on the outcome of an ongoing legal challenge, voters would then vote on April 21 in a statewide referendum on whether Virginia should adopt the new congressional map. A recent poll showed a majority of voters support the redistricting effort.
The complicated process of Democrats’ redistricting effort was prompted by states like Texas and North Carolina heeding Trump’s call for Republican-controlled states to redraw their maps to help the GOP fare better in the midterm elections.
Virginia’s current congressional delegation is made up of six Democrats and five Republicans.
The new map would likely result in Democrats winning 10 seats this fall and Republicans holding onto just one.
