VA Dems Seek to Change House Districts 10/24 06:10

   

   RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Democrats are taking steps to redraw their 
state's U.S. House districts, hoping to boost their party's chances in next 
year's midterm elections and counter President Donald Trump's push for more 
partisan districts in Republican-run states.

   Virginia House Speaker Don Scott sent a letter Thursday to members telling 
them to convene Monday for a special session but did not state a reason. The 
purpose includes congressional redistricting aimed at gaining more 
Democratic-held seats, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the 
plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they 
are not authorized to publicly discuss them.

   Virginia would be the second state with a Democratic-led legislature after 
California to enter a national redistricting battle with enormous stakes. If 
Democrats gain just three more seats, they would take control of the House and 
effectively impede Trump's agenda.

   Republican lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina already have 
approved new congressional maps aimed at helping their party win more seats and 
retain the slim GOP House majority. And even more states are considering 
redistricting as the battle front widens.

   A spokeswoman for Democrats' House campaign arm characterized Virginia's 
effort as the party pursuing "every available tool to counter Republicans' 
desperate attempts to steal the midterms."

   "Virginia's decision to convene and preserve the right to consider a new map 
in 2026 is critical in the fight to ensure voters have fair representation," 
said Courtney Rice, communications director for the Democratic Congressional 
Campaign Committee.

   Republicans vowed to fight. Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore 
said Democrats missed their opportunity to carry out this procedure by 2026 and 
that it's "too late constitutionally" to do so.

   "We are going to do everything legally we can do to stop this power grab," 
Kilgore said.

   Voting districts typically are redrawn at the start of each decade to 
account for population changes noted by the census. But Trump took the unusual 
step over the summer of urging Republican-led states to reshape key districts 
to try to buck a historical trend of a president's party losing seats in 
midterm elections.

   Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and 
five Republicans who ran in districts whose boundaries were imposed by a court 
after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 
2020 census.

   The effort to redraw Virginia's congressional districts comes in the final 
weeks before the Nov. 4 state legislative and statewide elections. But Monday's 
session is just the start of what could be a long legislative process, running 
past the election.

   Because Virginia's redistricting commission was established by a 
voter-approved constitutional amendment, the electorate must sign off on any 
changes. And any proposed change to the constitution must first pass the 
legislature in two separate sessions. Democrats are scrambling to hold that 
first vote this year, so that they can approve the change a second time after a 
new legislative session begins Jan. 14.

   Voters still would have to approve a change in the constitution to allow 
using the new House map. And that vote would need to occur before congressional 
primaries, which are currently set for June 16 -- though dates for such 
elections have been pushed back in the past.

   In many states, congressional districts are drawn by state lawmakers, 
subject to the approval of the governor. But North Carolina's new map, which 
received final approval Wednesday from the Republican-led Legislature, did not 
have to go to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Those changes target a swing district 
held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis by adding areas that contain more 
Republican-leaning voters.

   Like Virginia, California has a constitutionally established redistricting 
commission, which approved maps after the 2020 census. California voters are to 
decide in a Nov. 4 election whether to temporarily suspend those districts and 
instead use a map approved by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help 
Democrats pick up as many as five additional seats.

   No voter approval is necessary for the revised districts in Missouri, North 
Carolina or Texas, though opponents in Missouri are gathering petition 
signatures to try to force a statewide vote on their new map.