WASHINGTON — Virginia Democrats formally requested the US Supreme Court block an order from the state’s highest court invalidating the referendum that cleared the way for aggressive gerrymandering.
In a seemingly long-shot bid to mitigate their redistricting wounds, Democrats argued that the Virginia Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision last week was fundamentally flawed and overruled the will of the people.
“A stay is warranted because the decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia is deeply mistaken,” they wrote in a petition to the country’s highest court on Monday. “Where a state court’s decision on purportedly state-law grounds was ‘interwoven with the federal law,’ this Court may intervene to ensure that the state court’s decision complies with federal law.”
Democrats had hoped to use the referendum in Virginia to shift from a congressional map that has led to a 6–5 Democrat to Republican split, in favor of one that is projected to be a 10-1 breakdown. But Virginia’s Supreme Court found that Democrats violated the procedural requirements for a referendum to amend the state’s constitution.
Democrats had urged the state courts not to intervene and answer the legal questions about whether the referendum was permitted until after voters cast their ballots. Now that voters narrowly backed the referendum, Virginia Democrats are crying foul over the state’s highest court striking it down.
Due to the legal setback in Virginia and the US Supreme Court’s decision on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Democrats now appeared to be losing the rare mid-decade redistricting battle. House Dems are set to convene for a caucus meeting on Thursday to discuss the outlook heading into the 2026 midterms.
Under Virginia law, state lawmakers have to approve a resolution in two consecutive legislative sessions — with an election in between — in order for a referendum to amend the state constitution to take effect.
The state legislature’s first vote on the proposed amendment took place in October, while early voting in the off-year election was still ongoing, which is why the state’s highest court concluded there were not two separate sessions with an election in between, as required.
In their petition before the US Supreme Court, Democrats cited two main arguments for why it should reverse the state Supreme Court’s decision. First, they argued that the Virginia Supreme Court erred by counting early voting as an election being underway rather than just sticking to Election Day itself.
Second, due to its interpretation of when the election was taking place, Democrats argued the Virginia Supreme Court “transgressed the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that it arrogated to itself the power vested in the state legislature to regulate federal elections.”
“The irreparable harm resulting from the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision is profound and immediate,” they added. “By forcing the Commonwealth to conduct its congressional elections using districts different from those adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to a constitutional amendment the people just ratified, the Supreme Court of Virginia has deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.”
