Jane C. Timm is a senior reporter for NBC News.
Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map proposal Thursday evening designed to allow the party to win all but one of state's districts in this year's midterm elections. Under proposed map, former Vice President Kamala Harris would have carried 10 of Virginia's 11 congressional districts in the 2024 election rather than six.
Two of them she would have won only narrowly, but Gov. Abigail Spanberger carried them slightly greater margins in last November's elections, according to data provided by the Virginia Legislature. Since Democrats currently control six of Virginia's districts, the redrawn map could allow them to pick up four seats as they vie for control of the narrowly divided House. But Virginia Democrats still face several hurdles in getting the map enacted for the 2026 elections. A state court blocked the redistricting effort last month, saying lawmakers did not follow the proper steps in passing a constitutional amendment to pave the way for the new map. The state Supreme Court is now set to hear the appeal. If the court allows the effort to go through, voters would need to approve the constitutional amendment — which allows Virginia Democrats to bypass the the state's redistricting commission — this spring. To achieve the intended partisan effect, the populous area of Arlington, Virginia — a Washington, D.C. suburb — is split between five different districts under Democrats' proposal, some of which stretch deep into the state. The 9th Congressional District, a rural district in the west of the state currently represented by Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith, would absorb more of the rural parts of the state and becomes the only solidly Republican seat in Virginia. Virginia Democratic lawmakers had promised to release their map proposal last month, but were unable to reach an agreement and kept working through issues this week, a source familiar with the map-drawing process said, settling on the one they unveiled Thursday within the last 24 hours. Virginia represents Democrats' chief opportunity to gain seats this year in the ongoing mid-decade redistricting fight taking place around the country. President Donald Trump sparked it last summer when he urged Republicans in Texas to draw a new map. Six states enacted new congressional lines in 2025, and others, including Florida, are looking to join the fray this year.
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