Democrats are deliberating over just how aggressively to rewrite the congressional map in Virginia ahead of the November midterms.
The big questions: Should Republicans be relegated to one or two districts in the 11-seat Virginia delegation? And can House Democrats and Virginia state lawmakers agree on a plan?
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been trying to build consensus on the issue as the state legislature is poised to move ahead next week on procedural steps for a mid-decade redistricting.
Jeffries huddled Thursday afternoon on the House floor with all six Virginia Democrats: Reps. Bobby Scott, Jennifer McClellan, Don Beyer, James Walkinshaw, Eugene Vindman and Suhas Subramanyam. They talked about redistricting, and members indicated to Jeffries they hadn’t ruled out any possible maps, per a source familiar with the conversation.
Jeffries also met virtually on Tuesday with Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas and the state’s Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. He also met recently with Virginia House Speaker Don Scott.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, the party’s national redistricting hub, has presented two potential configurations to members, according to sources familiar with the plans:
1) A 9D-2R map that spares GOP Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith. This could net Democrats three seats by targeting GOP Reps. Jen Kiggans, Rob Wittman and John McGuire.
2) A 10D-1R map that leaves Griffith’s seat in southwest Virginia as the lone GOP-controlled district in the state. This version creates a new deep-blue seat that snakes from the DC suburbs across the state to the Shenandoah Valley.
Virginia state Democratic leaders have openly pushed a 10D-1R map, which could net the party four seats and provide a crucial counter to GOP efforts to redraw the map in Florida. But some Democrats in D.C. are concerned about that configuration, and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she believes that map could backfire.
Virginia Democrats need to amend the state constitution to allow the legislature to redraw the map. That requires a referendum vote, which is likely to take place in the spring. It would be a huge flop for Democrats if voters reject a map because it’s too heavily gerrymandered.
