A bill to set the date for Virginia’s redistricting referendum for April 21 was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee during an emergency meeting on Thursday.
The measure was approved on a 15-7 party-line vote. Its next stop will be the House of Delegates floor. About $5 million will be set aside from the general fund budget to pay for the referendum, according to the bill text. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger will need to sign that legislation if it is passed by the General Assembly.
“I feel like the boundaries fairly represent now the voters of Virginia,” said Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, while speaking to the bill in the committee meeting.
He pointed out that as the maps are currently drawn, Virginia’s congressional delegation is composed of six Democratic lawmakers and five Republicans.
“This appropriation to hold a special election, I think is a reaction and I regret that. But I can’t go along with this appropriation because I understand the consequences associated are fairly detrimental to the citizens of the commonwealth and fair representation throughout,” he said.
Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, who presented the bill to the committee, pushed back against Austin’s assertion.
“This is actually the most fair process that we can take in order to protect Virginians’ votes because of what is happening in other states. If we were to not act or at least give the voters the opportunity to choose to act, then we would be allowing for Texas, maybe Florida and North Carolina, to diminish the power of our Virginians’ vote,” she said.
Democrats have called the redistricting effort necessary, after Republican President Donald Trump called on conservative-led states to redistrict their congressional maps in favor of GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Virginia Republicans have questioned the legality of the redistricting effort in the commonwealth and have filed lawsuits aimed at halting the process.
Price added that she strongly believes in “one person, one vote,” and said that the current state of redistricting across the country has changed the voting landscape, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. She noted that the General Assembly would not abolish the bipartisan redistricting commission that was established through a 2020 constitutional amendment in an effort to make the redistricting process fairer.
House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, said he does not support any state redrawing its congressional maps outside of the normal 10-year period. He also took issue with the short notice of the bill’s presentation to the committee.
“There was no time for public comment, the public did not know anything about it. It’s one thing to try to rig elections, it’s another thing when you are actually trying to hide this from the public and run it through so fast,” he said during a press conference after the meeting.
The General Assembly would go back to the redistricting commission after the 2030 Census to again redraw the commonwealth’s congressional map.
A constitutional amendment must pass the General Assembly twice, with an intervening election between the two votes, before it goes to the voters in a referendum. Democratic lawmakers have said that proposed congressional maps would be available to voters by the end of January, ahead of the proposed April 21 referendum date.
Some Democratic lawmakers have posted on social media their intention to draw maps that would favor a congressional delegation of 10 Democrats and one Republican. If that were to come to fruition, Reps. Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County, who represents the 1st District; Jen Kiggans of Virginia Beach, who represents the 2nd District; John McGuire of Goochland County, who represents the 5th District; and Ben Cline of Botetourt County, who represents the 6th District, could be in danger of losing their seats. Both the 5th and 6th congressional districts are considered Republican strongholds as the maps are currently drawn.
General Assembly Republicans filed a complaint — and a request for an emergency injunction while they wait for a hearing — in Tazewell County Circuit Court in October. Their request seeks a judgment on the constitutionality of Democratic legislators’ effort to redraw Virginia’s congressional maps outside of the normal 10-year period.
Chief Judge Jack Hurley Jr. declined the request for an emergency injunction, which would have halted the General Assembly’s proceedings during October’s special session until the plaintiffs’ complaint is heard in court.
Hurley again declined to issue an injunction in January, stating that he cannot issue a ruling on the redistricting effort until the General Assembly has completed its action.