An unexpected state is moving to add more Democratic congressional seats

Democrats in Virginia are pushing to redraw their state’s congressional maps to add two or three House seats for their party, according to two Democratic sources with knowledge of the plan, a surprise move in ongoing mid-decade redistricting battles sparked by President Donald Trump’s desperation to retain the House in the 2026 midterm elections.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement of a special session of the legislature to vote on the redistricting plan has yet to be made.

Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have already taken steps to create seats for their party, and California voters are expected to approve a new congressional map to add Democratic seats in that state early next month. But Virginia has been little discussed as an option for where Democrats could add seats.

Democrats stressed that this is only the first step toward a possible redrawing of the maps, and that there is still a possibility that the General Assembly decides not to make the changes.

“We’ve been watching Republicans steal seats left and right and putting maximalist pressure on states across the country to try to reshape this democracy in a way that doesn’t reflect the people,” said John Bisognano, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. “So I would say it shouldn’t surprise people that a place like Virginia would take a moment like this to preserve its optionality for whatever it decides to do next year.”

The move also shakes up the state’s gubernatorial, attorney general and state legislature elections, which are just 11 days away. Polls indicate that voters in the blue-leaning state were already inclined to back Democrats as a check on the Trump administration, and Democrats are likely to see the opportunity to directly challenge the president as an additional reason to vote.

“Virginia Democrats are in full panic,” Adam Piper, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said in a statement. “Instead of calling for Jay Jones to retire due to his killer text message and being the subject of a criminal fraud investigation, they are playing partisan games by forcing lawmakers to return to Richmond for a special session that is a bigger travesty than Jay Jones’ ‘community service.’”

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Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor and a heavy favorite to win the race, has largely avoided questions about whether she would support drawing new maps and instead focused her campaign on cutting costs. Changing the maps would not require direct involvement from either her or the incumbent Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin.

Successfully adding the seats would be logistically complicated, in part because Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission in 2020. The legislature will have to vote on the new maps once before Election Day 2025, and again once the legislature convenes in 2026. The maps would then go to voters for approval at early 2026 and would be used in midterm elections later that year.

Democrats narrowly control both chambers of the General Assembly and are expected to gain seats in the House of Delegates in November.

The initiative appeared to take even some high-profile Virginia Democrats by surprise. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told News themezone he was still seeking more information about the legislature’s plans.

“Whatever is being discussed is not being done in a context of isolation,” Warner said. “I don’t think this would even be discussed if you weren’t seeing these actions in Republican-controlled states.”

Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC, controlled by allies of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have been involved in planning the session. It is possible that HMP, which has already spent $15 million to push for the California referendum, could similarly support a referendum in Virginia.

It’s unclear which GOP-held seats in Virginia Democrats might target. There are currently three undecided seats in the state: one based in Virginia Beach held by Republican Jen Kiggans, one in the outer suburbs of D.C. and Richmond held by Democrat Eugene Vindman, and one north of Richmond held by Republican Rob Wittman.