Virginia approves redrawn electoral districts, blow to Trump

Virginia voters approved a redistricting plan that could boost Democrats' chances of winning four more seats in the House of Representatives in November's US midterm elections. The constitutional amendment won narrowly among voters and marks a blow to President Donald Trump, who last year kicked off a national battle over redistricting by urging Republican officials in Texas to redraw them to consolidate their majority in the state. But the referendum on redistricting in Virginia could help nullify Republican gains elsewhere. "Virginia has just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterm elections," Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott said in a statement, "at a time when Trump and his allies are trying to consolidate power before voters have a say, the citizens of Virginia have stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country."

The new district map for the state Congress gives the Democrats an advantage in all but one of the state's 11 seats: the redrawing could lead to the Democrats gaining four seats in the US House, whose Republican control is increasingly precarious.

The Democrats consolidate the effects of their landslide victory in the 2025 elections that led to the landslide election of Abigail Spanberger to the office of governor in a state of rather blurred political colours: a 'purple state', a mix of Democratic blue and Republican red.

The reform, put to referendum, thus passed in spite of Trump's last and desperate appeal to voters to reject the proposal to redraw electoral districts in favour of the Democrats. 'Virginia, vote no to save the country,' the tycoon wrote on his social Truth in all capital letters.

The affair brings the national battle over redistricting into substantial parity, neutralising the advantage that Republicans had built up in 2025, when they redrew maps in Texas and other states to gain an advantage on the midterm ballot. Beyond the calculations related to the opposition between 'red' and 'blue', the Virginia vote is likely to give further momentum to the Democrats, who are busy exploiting Trump's low 33% approval ratings amid the uncertainties of the unpopular conflict with Iran.