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virginia
Virginia Voters Deal Major Blow to Trump-GOP Ploy to 'Steal the 2026 Midterms'
"Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they pushed back against a president who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress," said Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Apr 22, 2026
Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a referendum that's likely to give Democrats four additional seats in the US House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, a key victory in a gerrymandering war launched last year by President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
"Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they pushed back against a president who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress," Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, said following Tuesday's vote. "As we watched other states go along with those demands without voter input, Virginians refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box."
The ballot measure, which was approved by a margin of fewer than 100,000 votes, allows the Virginia constitution to be "amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census."
The new congressional map that Virginia lawmakers approved earlier this year—prior to putting the ballot question before voters—would aggressively redraw the state's district lines to give Democrats eight safe districts. Two other districts would be competitive but Democratic-leaning, leaving Republicans with just one favorable district. Common Cause Virginia, an advocacy group that does not favor partisan gerrymandering, called the new Virginia maps "a proportionate response" to GOP redistricting in other states, including Texas.
Eric Holder, the former US attorney general and chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in response to Tuesday's result that "the mere existence of this special election stands in stark contrast to the gerrymanders forced on constituents in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina and shows that voters are tired of Republican attempts to silence their power at the voting booth."
“Virginians’ courageous action today will have an impact far beyond the commonwealth. They didn’t just win an election—they have stopped Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the 2026 midterms in its tracks and defended the principle that elections should be fair, competitive, and decided by the people," said Holder. "Let this be a message to MAGA Republicans and the White House: enough is enough."
Democratic congressional leaders also applauded the outcome of the closely watched Virginia referendum. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a statement that "Virginians spoke with a crystal-clear voice, voting to stop the MAGA power grab and protect the integrity of free and fair elections."
But Jeffries stressed that "this war is not over," pointing to ongoing Republican efforts to redraw Florida's congressional maps.
“If Florida Republicans proceed with this illegal scheme, they will only create more prime pick-up opportunities for Democrats, just as they did with Trump’s dummymander in Texas," said Jeffries. "We will aggressively target for defeat Mario Díaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, Kat Cammack, Anna Paulina Luna, Laurel Lee, Cory Mills, and Brian Mast. We are prepared to take them all on, and we are prepared to win."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) responded enthusiastically to Jeffries' statement.
"Hell yes," she wrote on social media. "This is the energy."
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Ocasio-Cortez Vindicated—Again—After Amazon HQ2 Added No Jobs in Virginia Last Year
The Amazon mega-facility has consistently failed to meet job creation expectations, reported a Virginia-based business publication.
Apr 03, 2026
Although Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took criticism from some mainstream media pundits after she helped rally public opinion against the construction of Amazon's HQ2 in Long Island City, new data revealed this week has seemingly vindicated her skepticism of the project.
Virginia Business reported on Thursday that a filing submitted to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership this week showed that Amazon created no jobs at its HQ2 in Arlington County last year, and thus "will not seek a state payment" under the state's workforce grant incentives.
Last year, reported Virginia Business, Amazon requested more than $6.4 million through the grant program for adding just under 293 jobs in 2024.
"The hiring slowdown follows earlier signs that Amazon’s HQ2 buildout has fallen short of initial expectations," Virginia Business explained. "The company originally projected it would create 10,000 jobs by 2024, but hiring totals fell well short of that mark. The company currently has nearly 8,500 employees who work out of HQ2."
In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined with local activists to oppose the construction of HQ2 in Long Island City, and they pointed to the billions of dollars in tax incentives offered by New York City and New York state as an example of wasteful corporate welfare being given to one of the world's richest companies.
Amazon canceled its plans to build HQ2 in New York in February 2019, prompting Ocasio-Cortez to take a victory lap.
"Anything is possible," the then-freshman congresswoman wrote in a social media post. "Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world."
Amazon would subsequently move construction of HQ2 to Virginia after being offered hundreds of millions in potential tax incentives, but it delayed construction of the facility in 2023, which again led Ocasio-Cortez to declare vindication.
"When I opposed this Amazon project coming to New York because it was a scam of public funds, the whole power establishment came after us," she wrote. "Billboards went up in Times Square denouncing me. Powerful pols promised revenge. Op-eds and CEOs insulted my intelligence. In the end, we were right."
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Virginia Democrats Pass New Political Map to Combat Trump—But Court Battles Continue
"Virginia has to fight back," said state House Speaker Don Scott. "We can't stand by and do nothing but to do everything in our power to level the playing field."
Feb 20, 2026
Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly on Friday passed a new potential congressional map and a later primary date—but it came after a setback in court for a pending referendum in which voters would decide whether to redistrict to combat a national GOP gerrymandering effort launched last year by Republican President Donald Trump.
After advancing in a 21-18 Virginia Senate vote on Thursday, HB29 was approved by the House of Delegates 59-35, with five Democrats not voting. The bill still needs a signature from Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, but VPM reported that House Speaker Don Scott (D-80) expects her to sign it as soon as Saturday, or by Monday at the latest.
"Virginia has to fight back," Scott said, accusing Trump of trying to rig the November midterm elections for the Republican Party. "We can't stand by and do nothing but to do everything in our power to level the playing field."
Spanberger—who is set to deliver Democrats' response to Trump's State of the Union speech next week—similarly said when she approved the referendum that "Virginia has the opportunity and responsibility to be responsive in the face of efforts across the country to change maps."
Trump has convinced Republicans in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri to redraw their congressional maps in a bid to hold on to the GOP's dwindling majority in the US House of Representatives. That led to various court battles, a new voter-approved map in California crafted to benefit Democrats, and the ongoing fight for a similar one in Virginia.
If Virginia voters support Democrats' constitutional amendment to temporarily redistrict, the new map would give the party an advantage in 10 of the state's 11 congressional districts, and the June 16 primary would be delayed until August 4. However, a Thursday court order puts the referendum, scheduled for April 21, in jeopardy.
GOP-appointed Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order sought by the Republican National Committee, which is challenging the state Democrats' redistricting endeavor alongside the National Republican Congressional Committee and GOP US Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith.
In a written order that followed a bench decision, the judge prohibited Virginia officials from "administering, preparing for, taking any action to further the procedure of the referendum, or otherwise moving forward with causing an election to be held on the proposed constitutional amendment" until March 18. Early voting was set to start on March 6.
Thursday was the second time that Hurley "ruled against Democrats' redistricting agenda. In January, he ruled that a resolution for a constitutional amendment was illegally passed in a special legislative session and taken up too close to an intervening election," the Associated Press noted. "That case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, and justices had said they would allow the referendum to proceed while they review the appeal."
Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones also vowed to challenge the temporary restraining order, saying in a statement that "my office will immediately appeal the ruling issued by the Tazewell County Circuit Court. These arguments are already before the Supreme Court of Virginia, the proper forum to consider the arguments, which has set a schedule for receiving arguments and has justifiably allowed the vote to proceed during this time."
Meanwhile, in Missouri, a four-day bench trial over Republicans' gerrymandering wrapped up before the Circuit Court of Jackson County. That GOP map targets the state's 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
"Missouri's mid-decade gerrymander is a lose-lose situation for voters in Kansas City and those in smaller rural communities," said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, which is supporting plaintiffs in the case. "The strategic manipulation of district lines breaks up long-standing communities and forces urban and rural communities with vastly different needs to share the same member of Congress, which will now make these communities compete for their voices to be heard in Congress."
"What's happening in Missouri is not happening in a vacuum. The national gerrymandering crisis that Donald Trump and DC Republicans started in Texas, continued in Missouri and North Carolina, and it is showing no signs of stopping at this point," she said. "No one wins this race to the bottom. Least of all the American people. This court should send a strong signal that unconstitutional gerrymanders will not be tolerated in Missouri."
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