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California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared victory for Democrats on Tuesday after Virginia voters approved a redistricting referendum that could reshape the House battlefield ahead of the 2026 midterms, warning the Trump administration that Democrats aim to drive a stake through its power by reclaiming Congress.
“We are winning all across the United States and state houses in courthouses and now in the court of public opinion,” said Newsom in a video posted to X. “But what is at stake is putting a stake in the heart of the Trump administration by taking back the House of Representatives and taking it back to the United States Senate.”
The ballot measure, passed on Tuesday, grants the Democratic-controlled Virginia legislature temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election, replacing the state’s current bipartisan commission — a shift that could bolster Democrats’ position in the fight for House control ahead of the 2026 midterms and broader national power.
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“MAGA dare I say they’re losing at their own game. They’re on the defense and they’re scared.” (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Newsom has been positioning himself as a leader of the Democratic Party as his national profile builds ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run.
“MAGA dare I say they’re losing at their own game. They’re on the defense and they’re scared,” the California governor added.
High-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama, touted the referendum results as a midterm boost and celebrated on social media.
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“Donald Trump and Republicans have tried to rig the 2026 midterms,” Kamala Harris wrote in a post on X. “Today in Virginia, voters sent them a clear message: The power is with the people,” she continued.
Obama congratulated Virginia after voters approved a redistricting referendum, saying residents of the commonwealth showed what it looks like to “stand up for our democracy” and “fight back.”
The referendum could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
“Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet,” Obama wrote on X. “Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”
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“Donald Trump wants to stay in power at all costs. And his biggest obstacle is the midterm elections,” wrote possible presidential hopeful Gov. J.B. Pritzker on X.
“House Democrats have crushed Donald Trump’s national gerrymandering scheme,” wrote Democrat House leader Hakeem Jeffries on X. “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”
“Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet.” (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)
The referendum could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. Democrats could add four additional left-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms as the party looks to reclaim control of the chamber from the GOP’s slim majority.
Democrats have long treated redistricting as a strategic power fight, pouring resources into map battles, litigation and organizations like the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in an effort to shape congressional lines and the House battlefield before the Trump era.
The Supreme Court of Virginia allowed the referendum to move forward after a lower court struck it down.
But legal challenges to the referendum, filed in part by the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the state GOP, remain unresolved and are still before Virginia’s highest court.
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Republicans are fighting back with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin calling on the Supreme Court to weigh in. Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II said there will be three challenges to the amendment process itself.
Cuccinelli argued that the referendum’s first passage was invalid, that an election must intervene between the first and second passage of the measure, and that insufficient time elapsed between final passage and the vote on Tuesday.
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Digital reached out to the Office of Gavin Newsom and the Republican National Committee for comment.
Digital’s Landon Mion, Paul Steinhauser, Jasmine Baehr, and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
