RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Democrats are taking a victory lap after voters approved a referendum Tuesday allowing the adoption of a new map for the state's 11 congressional districts. Meanwhile Republicans are pinning their hopes of several legal challenges over the process.
"All we do is win, win, win, no matter what, because we won again," said Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) Wednesday.
"In strong numbers, with clear purpose, and they voted yes," added Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth).
The unofficial results show the referendum passe by nearly three points. The new map will shift the congressional districts from the current layout, which favors Democrats six to five, to one that favors them 10 to one until 2030. After that point, the voter-approved bipartisan redistricting commission will resume its work in the process.
Lucas said the new map was in response to Republican-led states doing the same thing after President Donald Trump asked them to.
"It's about leveling the playing field for the country. We were not going to let anyone tilt the system without a response," Lucas said.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said she always expected the referendum to pass, but by a smaller margin than her 15-point victory last year.
"Many voted yes. Many voted no, but obviously the majority voted to move forward with the referendum," Spanberger said.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pinning their hopes on legal challenges to the process. They say the "yes" side was expecting a larger margin and that the closeness of the race helps their case in the next stage of the fight.
"We knew this was going to be hard, but that's why we're still fighting," Minority Leader Del. Terry Kilgore (R-Scott) said. "I think for any Democrat to be going around here, spiking the ball at all today is just disingenuous. Because it shows how close in that Virginia is not a 10-to-one state. We're still a six-to-five state."
Several lawsuits have been filed against the referendum process by Republican lawmakers and groups, with some before the Supreme Court of Virginia. The court allowed the vote to happen while arguments are made, meaning a ruling in favor of Republicans could overturn the election results.
"The language was so misleading. They didn't follow the statutes they were supposed to follow. There's a lot of missteps that were that happened during the process, so we feel comfortable going on to the next phase," Kilgore said.
Scott said Democrats will let the court process play itself out.
"Just like we abide by the will of the voters, we've got to abide by the will of whatever court. We're going to follow the rule of law here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, that's what we've always done," Scott said.
There is no set date for a decision to be made in the Supreme Court cases, but the last round of filings in the first lawsuit is due on Thursday. Oral arguments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday.
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