Virginia's Democrats have done what they said they were going to do, and now the commonwealth faces the most egregiously gerrymandered congressional map in all of the country.
On Thursday, Democrat House Speaker Don Scott and Senate Finance Chair Sen. Louise Lucas giddily confirmed to the media that state legislators had approved a new map that would wipe out most of the current Republican seats, with some of the new district boundaries drawn with certain Democrat politicians in mind. They had been working behind closed doors all week to hammer out the specifics of the new map; the big question was whether they'd kill off three or four of the congressional seats currently held by Republicans.
Well, we now have the answer. They're going full throttle with the intention of killing off all but one GOP-held seat. The new map would essentially reward Democrats with 10 seats, and limit Republicans to one. The current Democrat/Republican split is 6 to 5. Sen. Lucas crowed, “Donald Trump knows the Midterms are a LOSS, and our lines are locked in,” while her partner in crime, Speaker Scott, bragged, "Donald Trump started it, Virginia is going to finish it,"
BREAKING: Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D) and Sen. Louise Lucas (D) say a new congressional map is dropping today or tomorrow that stacks it 10 Democrats to 1 Republican.
— aka (@akafaceUS) February 5, 2026
“Donald Trump knows the Midterms are a LOSS, and our lines are locked in.”
“He lit the fire. Virginia… pic.twitter.com/Hki28LGubC
BREAKING: Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D) and Sen. Louise Lucas (D) say a new congressional map is dropping today or tomorrow that stacks it 10 Democrats to 1 Republican.
“Donald Trump knows the Midterms are a LOSS, and our lines are locked in.”
“He lit the fire. Virginia is ending it.”
Louise Lucas has been an outspoken advocate for the 10-1 map for months now, and began pushing for the drastic gerrymander even before the 2025 elections in Virginia. It should be noted that Lucas, who runs a cannabis shop in Portsmouth, once faced felony charges for her role in vandalizing a Confederate statue during the Black Lives Matter riots during the summer of 2020; a person was injured after a mob toppled the statue, leading Lucas to being charged with "conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000" for her role. The charges were later dropped.
READ MORE: Oh My: Judge Slaps Down Virginia Dems on 2026 Midterms Gerrymandering Scheme
Democrats Are One Step Closer to Nuking Most of Virginia's GOP Congressional Seats
Here's a bit on the new map (and read "competitive" as "leans heavily Democrat"):
NEWS: Some details on VA map, per multiple sources
— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) February 5, 2026
2 seats competitive. 1 is red. 8 are blue#VA02 is narrow Harris seat. Elaine Luria (D) would run here#VA06 is also narrow Harris seat. Includes College towns. Could see Tom Perriello (D) vs Ben Cline (R) matchup
One analysis of how the boundaries are likely to be redrawn concludes it is a clear gerrymander that disenfranchises large parts of the commonwealth.
But assuming Democrats press their full advantage, Republicans across rural Virginia, including those in Southside Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, would be effectively disenfranchised in congressional elections until 2032, after the next Census.
The only safe haven for GOP congressional candidates would be in Virginia’s far southwestern tip.
And here's why the Democrat map would be an outsized gerrymander:
Another way to look at this is to consider that states (California, Texas and Florida) are trying to wring five seats out of much bigger populations. California, for example, has a congressional delegation that is four times the size of Virginia’s.
What happens next isn't entirely clear at this point.
The Democrats would like a voter referendum to take place in April that would override an amendment to the state constitution that stripped away redistricting powers from lawmakers. As RedState's Sister Toldjah recently reported, "A Virginia Circuit Court judge slapped down [Democrats'] 2026 midterms gerrymandering scheme, ruling that how they went about it procedurally was illegal." But some experts have hinted the ruling might only affect Tazewell County, meaning the referendum could soon go forward in the rest of the state, and, if passed, the new map would be adopted in time for the midterm elections in November.
The new map is expected to be made public on Friday.
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