The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a new, voter-approved redistricting map, delivering a significant victory for Republicans in the state ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 midterm elections.
“We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia,” the Virginia Supreme Court said in the ruling. “This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”
The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month over the newly passed congressional map, which voters in the state approved by a narrow 51% to 49% margin.
The ballot measure would have given the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature — rather than the state’s current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through 2030.
It was also expected to yield a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. Republicans quickly sued to block the effort, prompting the state supreme court to hear oral arguments last month.
President Donald Trump immediately took to social media Friday to praise the ruling as a major victory for the Republican Party “and America.”
“The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia.”
Meanwhile, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, lamented the ruling as one that “put politics over the rule of law,” and said his team is evaluating “every legal path” forward. It was not immediately clear what those steps might entail, however, or if the state might try to kick the case up to the Supreme Court for review.
“This decision silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots in every corner of the Commonwealth, and it fuels the growing fears across our nation about the state of our democracy,” Jones said in a statement. “My team is carefully reviewing this unprecedented order and we are evaluating every legal pathway forward to defend the will of the people and protect the integrity of Virginia’s elections.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Jones’ office for comment.
RNC Chair Joe Gruters praised the ruling Friday, describing it on social media as a “HUGE WIN” for election integrity.
“This was a clear violation of the Constitution — that’s why the RNC stepped in to stop Democrats’ rigged maps and WON!” he said.
“Justice has been served,” former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Friday.
“From the beginning, this was the most obvious violation of Virginia’s Constitution,” he said. “Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in Richmond knowingly violated our constitution to disenfranchise millions of Virginians.”
Virginia’s former attorney general, Jason Miyares, also praised the ruling. “If Abigail Spanberger and Virginia Democrats had paid attention my October 2025 AG’s Opinion that made clear this scheme was unconstitutional and illegal, they could have saved more than $70 million, countless headaches, and months of obnoxious television ads defending the indefensible,” he said on X.
Virginia is one of the latest battlegrounds in the redistricting war pitting Trump and GOP lawmakers against Democrats.
Trump last spring floated the idea of a rare — if not unheard of — mid-decade congressional redistricting effort in an effort to prevent the so-called “blue wave” that saw Democrats retake the House majority in the 2018 midterms during his first term in office.
The effort was aimed at redrawing congressional district maps in GOP-led states to pad the fragile House majority and keep control of the chamber after the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
Asked last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats to maps across the country, Trump said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”
Virginia Supreme Court tosses Dem-backed redistricting map, upending expected 10–1 edge 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-05-08 14:53:36 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
