The Virginia Supreme Court has thrown out the state’s new congressional district map that skewed four seats to the Democrats, ruling it violates the state’s constitution and cannot be used in the upcoming midterm elections.
The 4-3 decision on Friday is a significant blow to Democrats and throws out a map that would have likely ensured the party flipped four of the state’s GOP-held seats in November. If implemented, it would have skewed Virginia’s congressional map 10-1 in favor of Democrats, leaving only a single district likely to elect a Republican.
The map was approved in a voter referendum last month by a margin of 51.5% to 48.5%, following one of the most expensive campaigns in state history. But the court ruling nullified those results.
The majority of justices said the General Assembly violated the constitution in drawing the new map which, it said, “irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”
The decision follows record-breaking spending on the referendum, most of it by Democrats who significantly outspent the GOP in advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts. The party hoped to pick up four additional U.S. House seats to win back the majority from Republicans in the hotly contested November battle for control of Congress.