A progressive “dark money” group has airdropped $5 million into Virginia to support Democrats’ efforts to win voter approval in April of new congressional maps that could flip all but one of the state’s five Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A Democratic-funded group, Virginians for Fair Elections, confirmed Thursday that it has launched a two-week, $2.7 million advertising blitz across Virginia’s six major TV markets.
Also Thursday, the leader of a successful 2020 effort that led to overwhelming voter approval of a state constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering announced the formation of a bipartisan group urging defeat of the April 21 vote.
The group, calling itself No Gerrymandering Virginia, will be led by an advisory committee that includes three Republicans (former Gov. George Allen, former House Speaker Bill Howell and former Roanoke Del. William Fralin) and two Democrats (former state Sen. Chap Petersen of Fairfax and redistricting reform advocate Brian Cannon).
Cannon, the former executive director of the bipartisan OneVirginia 2021, said the new group hopes to launch a seven-figure grassroots campaign.
But Cannon said he could not match the recent contribution to Virginians for Fair Elections by the House Majority Forward, a 501(c)(4) group that is not required to disclose it donors.
“I don’t have anyone in DC offering me $5 million to gaslight Virginia voters like the other side does,” Cannon said.
Virginians are unaccustomed to a major TV ad buy in February, but the state’s political calendar has been upended by Virginia Democrats’ determination to join a national redistricting war instigated by President Donald Trump.
Trump has encouraged Republican states to gerrymander congressional districts to create about a dozen more winnable GOP seats in congressional elections this November. Some Democratc-controlled states, first California and now Virginia, have launched a tit-for-tat retaliation.
Virginia’s current maps. considered among the most partisan-neutral in the nation, have in the last two elections produced a congressional delegation that approximates the state’s partisan divide — six Democrats and five Republicans.
Democrats who control the Virginia General Assembly are proposing a maximalist partisan gerrymander designed to create an outcome this November of 10 Democrats and one Republican.
Because bipartisan redistricting is now enshrined in the state constitution, Virginia Democrats will need voter approval to bypass the anti-gerrymandering provision until the next Census in 2030. The statewide vote, set for April 21, would not affect state legislative districts.
In a new TV spot released this week, the Democrat-backed campaign to encourage a Yes vote frames the issue as an effort to restore fairness as other states to “rig elections” in favor of Republicans.
The 30-second spot avoids any discussion of the lopsided nature of the proposed maps, while framing a “Yes” vote in language intended to resonate with those who supported redistricting reform six years ago.
“Give voters the final say in our elections, not politicians,” the narrator says. “Vote ‘Yes’ by April 21.”
A Republican-funded group has a similar name (Virginians for Fair Maps), but has a polar opposite take on the fairness of congressional maps that Democrats would impose should voters approve the April 21 vote.
“It’s a power grab to create districts only one party can win,” Virginians for Fair Maps message on its website.
Cannon’s group is seeking a bipartisan approach that was successful in the 2020 statewide vote.
“We are working not for team red or team blue, but for Team Virginia,” he said. “We don’t want this in Virginia.”
Redistricting reform is typically a concern only to the party out of power that wants to avoid the tyranny of the majority.
A decade ago, with Republicans in power, Cannon had no problem recruiting Democrats, but had to scrape to find a smattering of high-profile Republicans to provide at least a veneer of bipartisanship.
Today, with Democrats back in power, Cannon’s challenge is reversed. The two Democrats on the list are Chap Petersen, a former state senator from Fairfax known for his contrarian nature, and himself.
Fralin, the Roanoke Republican, said that both California and Texas are wrong for changing their districts mid-decade.
He said the proposed amendment would make a mockery of the state constitution, turning a foundational document into a vehicle to score short-term political points.
Fralin cautioned that if a precedent is set to carve out an exception to the constitutional prohibition against gerrymandering, either party would find it easier in the future to erode the protections further.
A spokesman for Virginians for Fair Elections questioned how anyone could have a problem with letting voters decide.
“This temporary, emergency measure lets Virginians level the playing field and gives voters the final say,” said Dan Gottlieb, spokesman for Virginians for Fair Elections.
