Editorial written by State Senator Lamont Bagby: #VoteYES for Redistricting

“Texas has already redrawn its maps. North Carolina has joined the effort. Missouri, Ohio, and Florida are in various stages of following suit. When complete, these Republican gerrymanders could hand the GOP enough seats to lock in control of the U.S. House of Representatives regardless of what voters actually want. If we do nothing, the will of the American people may not matter. 

Make no mistake: this is not just a national numbers game. It is a direct, targeted assault on Virginia’s power in Washington. Every seat Republicans add in Texas or North Carolina dilutes the influence of Virginia’s congressional delegation. Every gerrymander that goes unanswered shifts the balance of the House — and the committees, the speakerships, the subpoena power, the appropriations decisions that flow from that balance — further away from states like ours. The national Republican Party is not just trying to win more seats. They are trying to make Virginia’s six Democratic members of Congress irrelevant before they ever cast a vote. 

Key Points:

• Redistricting is a Targeted, Temporary Response - Redistricting does not abolish the Virginia Redistricting Commission. That body — the one Virginians voted to create in 2020 — will continue to govern all future redistricting after the 2030 census. Nothing in this amendment touches that .process.

• The Stakes - If Republican gerrymanders in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Florida succeed as designed — and Virginia does nothing — the resulting imbalance in the U.S. House will effectively silence the voices of millions of Virginia voters on federal policy, and most importantly, there will continue to be ZERO accountability of Trump’s corrupt and lawless administration by MAGA Republicans

• Voters Decide — Not Politicians - The same citizens who voted two to one to create the redistricting commission will have the final say. They will see the proposed new maps before they vote. They will know exactly what they are approving. That is not a power grab — that is direct democracy.

• The Choice Before Virginia

  • Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. Right now, they are under threat. Not from within Virginia — but from a nationally coordinated campaign to make congressional elections, in state after state, a foregone conclusion before they begin.

  • This April, Virginia voters have the opportunity to say: not here. Not on our watch. You can level the playing field, protect Virginia’s voice in Congress and preserve fair representation for our kids and grandkids — while ensuring that our bipartisan redistricting process resumes after 2030, exactly as we intended when we created it.

  • Virginia did not start this fight. But we have a responsibility to our constituents, to our democracy and to the generations that follow us to make sure it does not go uncontested. “