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A Virginia judge on Thursday effectively halted Democrats’ planned April 21 redistricting referendum, putting the party’s effort to gain four additional U.S. House seats in serious doubt just two weeks before early voting.
Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. granted a temporary restraining order requested by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. The order remains in effect until March 18, while early voting is scheduled to begin March 6.
Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones has vowed to appeal. Although the ruling is temporary, it could derail the referendum this year if it survives that challenge.
Republican U.S. Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith also signed the request for the restraining order. The plaintiffs contend that the referendum’s timing and wording are illegal and that Democratic lawmakers rushed redistricting measures through the General Assembly despite legal barriers.
The Republican National Committee called the decision “a massive win in defending honest representation for every Virginian.”
The ruling marks the second time Hurley has rejected part of the Democrats’ redistricting effort. In January, he found that a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment had been unlawfully approved during a special legislative session and considered too close to an intervening election.
That earlier case is now before the Supreme Court of Virginia. The justices had said the referendum could proceed while they considered the appeal.
The Virginia dispute is part of a national mid-decade redistricting fight initiated last year when President Donald Trump urged Republican officials in Texas to redraw congressional districts to help the party protect its narrow House majority.
Republicans believe new maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio could produce nine additional House seats. Democrats expect potential gains of six seats in California and Utah and have looked to Virginia to erase all or part of the remaining three-seat difference.
Before Thursday’s decision, Virginia Democrats had continued advancing a proposed congressional map that could give their party four more House seats. The plan has been introduced in the legislature.
Democratic House Speaker Don Scott said he expected the latest order to be overturned.
“The Supreme Court of Virginia has already made clear that this matter will go to the voters, but Republicans unhappy with that ruling went back to their friendly judge,” Scott said, referring to Hurley’s previous decision.
Democratic lawmakers also attempted to restrict where challenges involving constitutional amendments or related elections could be filed. After Republicans brought their first lawsuit in Tazewell, a conservative Southwest Virginia locality, the legislature passed a law designating Richmond Circuit Court as the sole venue for such cases.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed that measure and scheduled the redistricting referendum for April 21. Republicans maintained that Tazewell remained the proper venue despite the new law, and Hurley agreed.