Virginia's highest court could decide today whether to uphold the ruling of the Tazewell County Circuit Court judge who threw out the redrawn congressional map approved by voters last week.
Tazewell County, in the southwestern part of Virginia, is a strong Republican lean.
Newly elected Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in last fall’s election that she had “no plans” to redraw lines.
Republicans contend that the Democratic-led General Assembly violated procedural requirements by placing the constitutional amendment before voters to authorize mid-decade redistricting.
If the court agrees that Democrats broke the rules, it could uphold the lower court's ruling and void out a highly gerrymandered map that will likely give Democrats a 10-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House seats. Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans.
The state supreme court may have tipped its hand Tuesday when it refused an emergency stay request by Attorney Gen. Jay Jones and allowed the injunction of Tazewell Judge Jack Hurley to remain in place. For now, the results of the election — voters approved redistricting by a narrow 51.5%-48.5% margin — remain uncertified as the case plays out.
“In the 'tea leaves' category, this is as positive a 'tea leaf' as one might imagine! If #SCOVA thought they would let the referendum stand, then logically they would have lifted the injunction on counting & certifying the votes,” former state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli wrote on X.
Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times.
“There's every reason to believe the courts will strike down the Virginia gerrymander vote because it was rushed through. It's been documented that they broke four different laws, including the Constitution of the state of Virginia, to bring it to a vote so quickly before the midterm elections that if a court seriously looks at it, and it's before the Virginia Supreme Court, they really should strike it down as unconstitutional and say, ‘you've got to go about the process the right way.’"
Knight is cautiously optimistic.
“So egregious, it's so obvious. This is what Ken Cuccinelli says, and he was attorney general. He thinks it'll be a slam dunk, but I'm not sure it will be."
Republicans have filed at least two additional legal challenges, which also are winding their way through the courts.
