The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday said that the April 21 redistricting referendum can move forward.
The state supreme court is expected to hear an appeal of the Tazewell County Circuit Court’s January ruling — which sought to halt the redistricting effort — after the referendum is scheduled to take place. The date for oral arguments has not yet been set.
General Assembly Republicans filed a complaint in Tazewell County Circuit Court in October, seeking a judgment on the constitutionality of the attempt to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Chief Judge Jack Hurley Jr. sided with the Republican lawmakers, in what Democratic House Speaker Don Scott called an “overreach.” That ruling was appealed by Democratic lawmakers to the Virginia Supreme Court.
“I think the Virginia Supreme Court made the right choice, made the right decision,” Scott, of Portsmouth, said during an impromptu press conference on Friday. “Virginia voters will have the final say on redistricting in Virginia, as they should.”
Scott said that the high court’s decision will allow for the ballots to be printed with the referendum language and for the process to move forward.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, was among the plaintiffs who filed a complaint against the redistricting effort in the Tazewell County Circuit Court.
“That just shows that we’ve got to win the referendum and we’ve got to win in court,” he said, in response to the Virginia Supreme Court decision on Friday. “I think we can do both.”
Both Scott and Kilgore expressed confidence that the court will rule in their favor, though that ruling is not expected until after the April 21 voter referendum has concluded. Early voting for the referendum is expected to start on March 6.
“Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters,” said Dan Gottlieb in a statement. Gottlieb is a spokesperson for Virginians for Fair Elections, a group in favor of the redistricting effort. “The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say.”
Jason Miyares and Eric Cantor, co-chairs of Virginians for Fair Maps, called the referendum “illegal,” while acquiescing that the state’s highest court has allowed the effort to move forward before final judgment. Virginians for Fair Maps is an organization against the mid-decade redistricting process.
“All across Virginia, voters are speaking out against this brazen political power grab that allows politicians in Richmond to choose their own voters. It’s wrong, it’s illegal, and it will fail,” Cantor and Miyares said in a joint statement.
General Assembly leadership released a map for their mid-decade redistricting effort in early February, with 10 districts that Democratic lawmakers said they feel confident their party can win in November.
The map is available on the General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service website under HB 29. That bill has passed the House of Delegates and is expected to be voted on by the Democratic-controlled state Senate on Monday. Then it will head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who could sign the legislation, line-item veto or opt not to sign it, in which case the bill will automatically become law after a period of time.
Spanberger declined to comment on the Virginia Supreme Court decision. Instead, she said she is focused on the importance of clarity for Virginia voters regarding when and if the referendum would take place.
Virginia Democrats have called the redistricting effort necessary, after Republican President Donald Trump called on conservative-led states to change their congressional maps in favor of GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
To redraw congressional maps outside of the normal 10-year cycle, Democrats proposed and passed a constitutional amendment that would suspend Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission. The General Assembly would go back to the redistricting commission after the 2030 Census to again redraw the commonwealth’s congressional map. The constitutional amendment must go before the voters in a referendum before it is enacted.
If voters approve the effort in a referendum, the new maps will exist for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 midterm elections.