Redistricting in Virginia ahead of the 2026 elections
Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures. This article covers redistricting activity in Virginia after the 2024 elections and before the 2026 elections.
On October 27, 2025, the Virginia General Assembly adopted a resolution that would allow the legislature to consider a constitutional amendment for mid-decade redistricting.[1] On October 29, 2025, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 51-42 along party lines to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw its congressional lines.[2] The Virginia Senate followed with a 21-16 party-line vote on October 31, 2025.[3] Constitutional amendments must pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions before being placed on the ballot for voters. After both chambers approved the amendment again in January 2026, a state judge blocked the amendment from appearing on the ballot, ruling that introducing the amendment without unanimous approval had violated the special session's procedural rules.[4] Democrats appealed the ruling, and the state court of appeals passed the case on to the Virginia Supreme Court.[5] On February 13, 2026, the state supreme court ruled that a referendum that would allow the state to adopt a new congressional map could be placed on the April 21 ballot.[6]
This article documents the redistricting effort in Virginia ahead of the 2026 elections. To read about redistricting in Virginia after the 2020 census, click here.
- Virginia redistrictingVirginia's mid-decade congressional redistricting
- Court challengesLitigation over the redrawn map
- National contextRedistricting in other states ahead of the 2026 elections
Redistricting in Virginia ahead of the 2026 elections
On October 27, 2025, the Virginia General Assembly adopted a resolution that would allow the legislature to consider a constitutional amendment for mid-decade redistricting.[1] On October 29, 2025, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 51-42 along party lines to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw its congressional lines.[2] The Virginia Senate followed with a 21-16 party-line vote on October 31, 2025.[3] Constitutional amendments must pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions before being placed on the ballot for voters. The General Assembly approved the amendment again in January 2026. The House voted 62-33 to approve the amendment on January 14, 2026, and the Senate voted 21-18 to approve the amendment on January 16, 2026.[7][8] On January 27, 2026, a state judge blocked the amendment, ruling it had violated the special session's procedural rules when introduced in October 2025. According to the session's procedural resolution, "no bill, joint bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions affecting the rules of procedure or schedule of business of the General Assembly" could be added to the agenda except with unanimous approval. As Republicans had voted against it, the judge granted preliminary and permanent injunctions, blocking the amendment from the ballot.[4] Democrats appealed the ruling, and the state court of appeals passed the case on to the state supreme court.[5]
Comparison of old and new congressional map
The map below reflects Virginia's current congressional boundaries, enacted on December 28, 2021. If a new map is passed, this section will show a comparison of the old and new map.
Timeline of mid-decade redistricting in Virginia
The timeline below tracks updates to Virginia's redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 elections, including map proposal and approval and major court filings. For more information about litigation over the new congressional map, click here.
- February 13, 2026
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a referendum that would allow the state to adopt a new congressional map could be placed on the April 21 ballot.[6]
Court challenges
- If you are aware of any relevant lawsuits that are not listed here, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
As of January 29, 2026, Virginia had not enacted a new map ahead of the 2026 elections.
To read about litigation over the map passed after the 2020 census, click here.
National overview
As of February 2026, six states had congressional district maps that were subject to change before the 2026 elections, and six states—California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Utah—had new congressional maps. Three states were reportedly exploring voluntary redistricting, and three states had congressional maps that were subject to change due to litigation. Before 2025, only two states had conducted voluntary mid-decade redistricting since 1970.[16]
The map below shows redistricting activity between the 2024 and 2026 elections.
The table below shows redistricting activity between the 2024 and 2026 elections as well as the pre-redistricting U.S. House delegation in each state.
| State | Reason for redistricting | Status | Method of redistricting | U.S. House delegation before redistricting | Potential result of new maps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New map enacted | |||||
| California | Voluntary redistricting | Voters approved the use of a new map on Nov. 4, 2025. | Commission | 43 D - 9 R | +5 D |
| Missouri | Voluntary redistricting | Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed new map into law on Sept. 28, 2025. | Legislature-dominant | 6 R - 2 D | +1 R |
| North Carolina | Voluntary redistricting | Legislature passed new map into law on Oct. 22, 2025 | Legislature-dominant | 10 R - 4 D | +1 R |
| Ohio | Required by law to redistrict | Redistricting commission approved a new map on Oct. 31, 2025 | Legislature-dominant | 10 R -5 D | +2 R |
| Texas | Voluntary redistricting | U.S. Supreme Court ruled the new Texas map could be used in 2026 | Legislature-dominant | 25 R -12 D with 1 vacancy | +5 R |
| Utah | Changed due to litigation | Court approved new plaintiff-submitted map | Legislature-dominant | 4 R - 0 D | +1 D |
| Net | +3 R | ||||
| New map possible | |||||
| Florida | Voluntary redistricting | Special session to occur April 2026 | Legislature-dominant | 20 R - 8 D | - |
| Georgia | Subject to change due to litigation | Litigation ongoing | Legislature-dominant | 9 R - 5 D | - |
| Louisiana | Subject to change due to litigation | Litigation ongoing | Legislature-dominant | 4 R - 2 D | - |
| Maryland | Voluntary redistricting | House approved new map | Legislature-dominant | 7 D - 1 R | - |
| New York | Subject to change due to litigation | Litigation ongoing | Hybrid | 19 D - 7 R | - |
| Virginia | Voluntary redistricting | Constitutional amendment to allow redistricting pending voter approval | Hybrid | 6 D - 5 R | - |
See also
- Redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections
- Redistricting in Virginia
- State-by-state redistricting procedures
- Majority-minority districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- All About Redistricting
- Dave's Redistricting
- FiveThirtyEight, "What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State"
- National Conference of State Legislatures, "Redistricting Process"
- FairVote, "Redistricting"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Virginia General Assembly, "HJ6006," accessed October 27, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Hill ,"Virginia Democrats advance redistricting amendment," October 30, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Virginia Mercury, "Virginia Senate approves mid-decade redistricting amendment in party-line vote," October 31, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedblockamend - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Democracy Docket, "Virginia Supreme Court gets chance to revive Democrats’ redistricting plan," February 4, 2026
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 New York Times, "Virginia’s Top Court Clears Path for Democratic Push to Redraw House Map," February 13, 2026
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhouseamend2 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsenateamend2 - ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Democrats quickly send proposed redistricting map to Spanberger," February 10, 2026
- ↑ X, "Tyler Englander on February 5, 2026," accessed February 5, 2026
- ↑ Democracy Docket, "Judge blocks Virginia Democrats’ ‘10-1’ redistricting plan for 2026 midterms," January 27, 2026
- ↑ CNN, "Virginia Democrats set up a referendum to try to flip as many as 4 GOP-held US House seats," January 16, 2026
- ↑ Bloomberg Government, "Virginia Democrats Advance Bid to Redraw Congressional Districts," January 14, 2026
- ↑ The Hill, "Virginia Democrats advance redistricting amendment," October 30, 2025
- ↑ Virginia Mercury, "Democrats push redistricting amendment as special session jolts Virginia ahead of election," October 27, 2025
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "Redistricting between censuses has been rare in the modern era," August 28, 2025
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