The Supreme Court on Friday declined to revive a Democratic-backed congressional map in Virginia that supporters had hoped to implement for this year’s midterm elections, effectively ending the effort after weeks of legal and political battles.
In a short order issued without any noted dissents, the high court allowed a previous ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court to stand. That state ruling determined that the referendum process used to advance the proposed map suffered from legal deficiencies.
The challenge had already been losing momentum earlier in the week after Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger acknowledged on Wednesday that the timeline for adopting a new congressional map before the upcoming elections had already passed.
Democrats had promoted the proposed map as part of a broader national redistricting fight that intensified after President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to pursue congressional boundaries more favorable to the GOP.
While court observers did not expect the Supreme Court to intervene, Friday’s action marked another defeat for Democrats seeking to reshape congressional districts ahead of the midterms, both in Virginia and across the country.
Had the revised map taken effect, Democrats potentially stood to pick up as many as four additional congressional seats in Virginia’s 11-district delegation.
Virginia’s current congressional breakdown consists of six Democratic-held seats and five represented by Republicans.
At the center of the case was a procedural dispute involving Virginia state law. Because the Supreme Court generally cannot review purely state-law matters, the case faced significant hurdles from the outset. However, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones argued in court filings that the state court’s ruling also raised issues connected to federal law, which he said gave the justices grounds to hear the dispute.
