Virginia Judge Blocks Democrats' Gerrymandering Power Grab—Here's What Happens Next.
Democrats’ attempt to gerrymander and wipe out GOP congressional seats has been stopped—for now.
Virginia Democrats pledged to rewrite the state constitution to eliminate most Republican House seats. Virginia currently has a near-even split—five Republicans and six Democrats—but the proposed gerrymandered maps would reduce Republican seats to just one.
That effort was halted on Jan. 27, when a judge issued a permanent injunction against Virginia legislative Democrats for violating both the state constitution and their own procedural rules by fast-tracking the amendment.
The Virginia Constitution lays out a very specific process for amending the constitution. The General Assembly (GA) must pass legislation in two consecutive sessions with an intervening election between the votes, ensuring the people have more control over the amendment process. The intervening election is crucial—giving voters an opportunity to remove legislators if they disapprove of their vote on the proposed amendment.
On a party-line vote on Oct. 29, 2025, the Virginia GA met in a special session to pass the bill amending the state constitution to gerrymander congressional districts, unfairly favoring Democrats.
Legislative Democrats then voted again on Jan. 14, 2026, to approve the amendment setting up a referendum to be sent to voters as early as April. Their goal was to have new maps to impact the November 2026 congressional midterm races.
Virginia’s next election for governor and House of Delegates was held on Nov. 4, 2025, but crucially, early voting began on Sept. 19. That set up a problem for Democrats: Was the 2025 election held before or after their initial legislative vote?
Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle quickly challenged the Democrats’ actions in court. On Jan. 27th, Tazewell judge Jack S. Hurley issued an injunction declaring the GA failed to comply with the constitutional procedure and their own established rules on passing a constitutional amendment.
First, the judge ruled that the GA’s Oct. 2025 special session to vote on the redistricting amendment is void. Their own rules limited the session to only five specific topics and redistricting was not on the approved call of the session.
Second, the judge declared there was no intervening election between the passage of the two bills. He ruled that the 2025 General Assembly election began on the first day of voting—September 19, 2025. This decision aligns with former Attorney General Jason Miyares’ legal opinion issued on Oct. 28, 2025. The judge pointed out that one million Virginians had already cast their ballots when the GA took their redistricting vote on Oct. 29.
Finally, the GA also failed to abide by code section 30-13 requiring the legislature post the proposed constitutional amendment at the front door of every courthouse "not later than three months prior to the next ensuing general election of members of the House of Delegates."
Now Democrats are scrambling to undercut and trample on the rights of voters. They have a proposed bill that would repeal code 30-13, removing the requirement to post notice. The judge pointed out that legislation cannot be retroactive unless there is an enabling clause and passed by four-fifths of the GA.
Republican and Democrat Leaders Respond
Senate minority leader Ryan McDougle and House minority leader Terry Kilgore told Restoration News:
Today’s ruling is a decisive victory for the rule of law and Virginia voters.
The court confirmed that Democrat legislative leaders unlawfully expanded a Special Session, violated their own rules, and attempted to force through a redistricting constitutional amendment while Virginians were already voting.
The court rightly declared those actions void from the start. If they continue to move forward with the unconstitutional amendment process, the Democrats would be defying the order of the Court.
This case was never about partisanship. It was about process, fairness, and the simple principle that you cannot change the Constitution by ignoring the Constitution. The court made clear that elections matter, notice matters, and the rules apply to everyone—even those in power.
Democrat GA leaders issued this statement:
We will be appealing this ruling immediately and we expect to prevail. This was court-shopping, plain and simple. We’re prepared for the next step, and voters – not politicians – will have the final say.
What’s Next?
It’s expected that Judge Hurley’s decision will be appealed by Democrats on an expedited basis, but they may have an additional hurdle to overcome.
Democrats have set an April 21 date for a special election to consider the redistricting constitutional amendment but there are major concerns with the ballot language (emphasis added):
Question: Should the Constitution of Virginia 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 actual legislation passed takes away four reliably red congressional districts and makes them blue. Virginia Republicans would likely only have one U.S. House seat while Democrats would gain four—giving Democrats ten representatives and only one for Republicans.
The ballot question is purposefully deceptive, and no one should consider the actions of the Democrats to be "fair."
This is a developing story and Restoration News will continue to report on it as new facts emerge.
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