Voters in Virginia approve new congressional maps to boost Democratic seats in the fall midterms.

Voters in the US state of Virginia on Tuesday approved a congressional redistricting plan that could help Democrats in the midterm elections this November, according to results from news agencies.

The amendment to the state Constitution bypasses a bipartisan redistricting commission to allow the use of newly drawn districts created by Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly – the state legislature – that could potentially add four new congressional seats for Democrats.

The vote comes amid a fierce mid-decade redistricting battle initiated by President Donald Trump, who urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps to boost the Republican Party's chances of winning the midterm elections and maintaining its majority in the US Congress.

Texas was the first state to redraw its congressional maps to potentially add five Republican seats, which were approved by the state's Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott without voter approval.

The state of California countered those gains when voters approved new congressional maps that would potentially add five Democratic seats. The measure was approved by the Democratic-led state legislature and backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom before being presented to voters.

But other Republican-led states joined Texas, with Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio passing congressional redistricting plans that added four more potential Republican seats in Congress.

The new Virginia redistricting maps would potentially nullify that by potentially adding four Democratic congressional seats in the state, which tends to leans Democratic after long leaning Republican, but still has the potential to go either way.

However, Tuesday's vote may be short-lived, as Virginia's state Supreme Court is now weighing whether the new congressional maps are illegal. Legal challenges by Republicans are still before the state's highest court, which upheld a ruling by a lower court to allow the redistricting plan to be placed on Tuesday's ballot.

Democrats are nonetheless applauding Virginia's election as a victory that counters Trump's plan to stack more Republican seats in the November midterm elections.

"Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms," said Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott in a statement. "At a moment when Trump and his allies are trying to lock in power before voters have a say, Virginians stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country."