SCOTUS deals Dems a major setback by refusing to intervene after the state’s highest court invalidated a voter-approved redistricting overhaul
Virginia Democrats suffered a major legal defeat after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a high-stakes redistricting dispute, leaving intact a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a voter-approved congressional map overhaul.
The justices denied state Democrats’ emergency request to block the Virginia high court’s decision, which found the amendment process violated the state constitution because lawmakers advanced the proposal after early voting had already begun in the required intervening election cycle.
SCOTUS acted in a brief unsigned order and no justice publicly dissented.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled May 8 in a 4-3 decision that the procedural defect “incurably taints the resulting referendum vote,” effectively killing Democrats’ effort to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Now, if only Maryland could get its voter districting head out of its Democrat a**!