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Spanberger signs bill that could give Democrats more seats in Congress

By WTOP Staff

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed a bill that is intended to give Democrats a handful of additional seats in Congress.

The Washington Post reports Spanberger signed the measure as part of a broad spending package concerning statewide expenses through the end of June, and sets aside $5 million for a statewide referendum on redistricting.

“There is a pretty long process still to go, but the maps that are in the bill that she signed last night would create 10 heavily Democratic-leaning districts and one solid Republican district in the state,” Washington Post reporter Gregory Schneider, who covers Virginia from the Richmond bureau, told WTOP.

“This would just be the map that Democrats would plan to use if the voters statewide pass a referendum scheduled for April 21. That referendum would amend the state constitution to let the legislature do this mid-decade redistricting.”

Democrats are pushing in several states to counter President Donald Trump’s efforts for new districts in Republican states.

There’s a lot that has to happen before the newly-gerrymandered Virginia maps can take effect.

“It’s kind of a melodrama,” Schneider said. “Democrats expect that Republicans are going to fight it every step of the way.”

Early voting could begin March 6 ahead of an April 21 referendum on amending the state constitution to allow the new maps. But a judge in heavily-Republican Tazewell County issued an injunction to put the process on hold.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said he has filed motions with the state Supreme Court to appeal the latest action and keep the referendum on track.

“The timing is just crucial. If there are any delays, it could throw the whole process off,” Schneider said.

US House campaigns are underway. Yet a redistricting battle triggered by Trump rages in some states

By The Associated Press
Candidates are campaigning and voting is underway in some primaries. Yet a national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections. Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at President Donald Trump's urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. And they also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings. Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting when he urged Texas Republicans last summer to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and a tit-for-tat redistricting clash soon spread. So far, Republicans believe they could win nine additional seats in states where they have redrawn congressional districts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats elsewhere because of redistricting. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that's uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
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