Supreme Court Rejects Virginia Democrats' Attempt to Restore Gerrymandered Congressional Map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday turned down Virginia Democrats’ request to revive a congressional map that had been deemed illegally gerrymandered.

Chief Justice John Roberts referred the emergency application to the full court, which issued a brief, unsigned order denying the stay and leaving the current map in place. The justices stated simply: “The application for stay presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied.”

The ruling follows an earlier decision by the Virginia Supreme Court, which also refused a request from the state’s Democratic Attorney General to pause a lower-court order blocking the controversial gerrymander referendum.

Virginia voters had narrowly approved a ballot measure that would temporarily hand redistricting authority to the Democrat-controlled legislature instead of the state’s independent commission through the 2030 election cycle. The change was projected to deliver Democrats a potential 10-1 advantage in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from the current 6-5 split, at the expense of millions of independent and Republican voters.

Last month, the Tazewell Circuit Court declared the referendum unconstitutional. The judge issued an injunction preventing certification of the narrow “Yes” vote and rejected Democrats’ request for a stay pending appeal.

The outcome means both the U.S. Supreme Court and Virginia’s highest court have now rejected the Democratic effort to implement the challenged redistricting plan.