Supreme Court rejects Virginia's bid to restore congressional map
favoring Democrats
[May 16, 2026]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia’s bid to
restore a congressional map that would have given Democrats a chance to
pick up four seats in the closely divided House of Representatives.
The court’s order, issued without any noted dissent, is the latest twist
in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competition. It was kicked off
last year by President Donald Trump urging Republican-controlled states
to redraw their lines and was supercharged by a recent Supreme Court
ruling severely weakening the Voting Rights Act that opened up even more
winnable seats for the GOP.
In recent days, the justices have sided with Republicans in Alabama and
Louisiana who hope to redo their congressional maps to produce more
GOP-leaning seats following the court’s voting rights decision.
But the Virginia situation was different, stemming from a 4-3 ruling by
the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a constitutional amendment
that voters narrowly passed just last month.
The state court found that the Democratic-controlled legislature
improperly began the process of placing the amendment on the ballot
after early voting had begun in Virginia’s general election last fall.
The Supreme Court typically doesn’t intervene in state court proceedings
unless they present an issue of federal law. Virginia Democrats had
hoped to persuade the justices that the Virginia court misread federal
law and Supreme Court precedent that hold that, even if early voting is
underway, an election does not happen until Election Day itself.
Virginia’s amendment had been intended as a response to Republican gains
in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and to blunt a new map in
Florida that just became law. Once the Virginia amendment passed, it
briefly turned the nationwide redistricting scramble into a draw between
the two parties.
That was unraveled by the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision.
The state's attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones, slammed the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision, saying it was another example of what he
described as a national attack on voting rights and the rule of law.
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“Let’s be clear about what is happening. Donald Trump, Republican
state legislatures, and conservative courts are systematically and
unabashedly tilting power away from the people for Trump’s political
gain,” Jones said in a statement issued late Friday night.
The state’s top Democrats had disagreed about whether it was even
too late for help from the Supreme Court. “Time grows short, but it
is not yet too late,” lawyers for the Democratic leaders of the
legislature as well as the state told the justices in a brief filed
Friday.
A day earlier, the office of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger
already had confirmed that the state will hold this year’s elections
under the current districts established in 2021. Last month,
Virginia Commissioner of Elections Steve Koski said a court order
was needed by this past Tuesday to set the district lines for
primary elections on Aug. 4.
Spanberger reacted to Friday's decision by saying both courts had
nullified the votes of the more than 3 million Virginians who cast
ballots in the April 21 special election.
“These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in
good faith to push back against a President who said he’s 'entitled'
to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls,” she posted
on her X account.
The leader of the state Republican Party said the justices made the
right call.
“Wisely, the Supreme Court of the United States has confirmed the
judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia,” state party chairman
Jeff Ryer said. “This should once and for all put to rest the
Democrats’ effort to disenfranchise half of Virginia.
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Associated Press writer Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama,
contributed to this report.
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