Darren Lyn
12 May 2026•Update: 12 May 2026
Virginia Democrats on Monday filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court to have their redrawn congressional maps reinstated after being found unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court last week.
"A stay is warranted because the decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia is deeply mistaken on two critical issues of federal law with profound practical importance to the Nation," read the appeal.
"First, it predicated its interpretation of the Virginia Constitution on a grave misreading of federal law, which expressly fixes a single day for the 'election' of Representatives and Delegates to Congress," Democrats argued. "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."
"Second, by rejecting the plain text of the Virginia Constitution’s definition of the term 'election' to adopt its own contrary meaning, the Supreme Court of Virginia '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 appeal reasoned. "Either violation is sufficient for this Court to reverse the decision."
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that Democrats did not follow the required constitutional procedures in advancing the voter-approved amendment redrawing the state's congressional maps that would have potentially added four new Democratic seats in the US Congress.
The state's high court upheld a lower court ruling that blocked the amendment from being certified and implemented based on the articles of the Virginia Constitution, which required that the proposed amendment be approved by the legislature twice before going to voters at the polls.
Some top state Democrats expressed little hope that the appeal would affect this November’s congressional midterm elections and are already shifting their focus to waging campaigns in the state’s existing districts.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said "the practical realities of our election calendar" will prevent candidates from running in new maps even if conservative justices on the US Supreme Court were open to helping Virginia Democrats. That's because Tuesday is the deadline set by state elections officials for putting the ballot mechanisms in place.
"Since we can’t control anything other than mobilizing and organizing, then let’s mobilize and organize and turn our anger into fuel for that," Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan said.
The redrawn congressional maps would have turned a 6-5 Democratic edge in congressional seats to potentially a 10-1 advantage in Virginia ahead of the midterms. Those four extra seats would have given Democrats a chance to take the majority in Congress, which Republicans currently hold by a slim margin.
President Donald Trump created a firestorm last year after suggesting that Republican-led states redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms to retain the Republican party's narrow edge in controlling both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Texas was the first state to pass new redistricting maps that could potentially add five new Republican seats in Congress. The plan was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor without voter approval.
California countered with its own voter-approved congressional maps that could possibly add five new Democratic seats.
A multitude of states have entered the fray of redrawing their congressional maps, spurning lawsuits from both Democrats and Republicans trying to gain an advantage in controlling Congress ahead of the November elections.
