The gamble in Virginia paid off and the Democrats are now looking to the midterm elections with optimism. While, on the contrary, the road becomes increasingly uphill in view of the November vote for President Donald Trump and his ambitions to maintain Republican control in the Senate and the House, faced with the tycoon’s popular approval rating at historic lows under the weight of the war on Iran.
Even the green light for the referendum on the redefinition of the electoral districts of Virginia (51.6% Yes against 48.4% No) has gained despite the latest appeal for rejection launched by Trump. The importance of the outcome lies in the numbers: the state has six Democratic and 5 Republican deputies in the House of Representatives, but the new definition of the districts gives the Dems an overwhelming majority of 10 to 1, and therefore the potential to win four new seats in the Midterm vote.
At present, the Grand Old Party controls the Chamber with 218 seats against 213. “Thank you for showing us what it means to defend our democracy and react”, celebrated on social media the former occupant of the White House, Barack Obama, one of the highest profile pro-reform personalities to have taken the field.
“What matters most is that Virginia voters voted and approved the referendum. It all started when Trump said he had the right to seats in Congress, and the Texas legislature responded by redefining the electoral districts without involving citizens”, commented the satisfied Democratic governor of the state, Abigail Spanberger, elected last year with over 70% of the votes. Republicans, however, contested the initiative.
In a note, MP Richard Hudson, head of the GOP body responsible for electoral campaigns, defined the initiative as a “brazen appropriation of power”, stating that the narrow difference in votes between the two fronts, equal to almost 100 thousand votes, “confirms that Virginia is a ‘purple’ state, contested by Republicans and Democrats”, which does not deserve such extreme ‘gerrymandering’ (the manipulation of electoral districts, ed.).
And the courts “should nullify the new mapping,” he added. Opponents of the reform challenged both the wording of the referendum question and the timing and procedures followed for the redistribution of districts.
And the Virginia Supreme Court is considering whether the Legislature violated existing procedural rules. The point is that Virginia is only the latest case of gerrymandering: a referendum proposal, wanted by the Democratic governor of California Gavin Newsom, was easily approved in 2025, moving five districts in Republican hands to the left and neutralizing a similar strategic move in Texas which, with Trump’s blessing, triggered the current national battle for the redrawn electoral districts last summer. Missouri and North Carolina also followed suit with the aim of taking a seat each from the Democrats.