(A)Political - May 9th

Good morning everyone,

It’s been a huge week for mid term news. Let’s dig in!

The Virginia Supreme Court has just voided a Democrat effort to eliminate most Republican congressional representation. Yesterday, Trump took to Truth Social to tout that a ceasefire took place between Ukraine and Russia, with extended talks taking place for a total end of the war. The Trump administration has released the first batch of classified UFO files to the public.

• Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Redistricting Effort

• Trump Announces 3 Day Ceasefire Deal Between Ukraine & Russia

• Department Of War Releases First Tranche Of UFO Files

Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Redistricting Effort

_{By: Atlas}

The Supreme Court of Virginia struck down the state's new congressional map Friday in a 4-3 decision, throwing out the results of a voter referendum that had narrowly passed three weeks earlier and restoring the 6-5 districts that have been in place since 2022.

The map at the center of the case would have given Democrats a 10-1 edge in the state's House delegation. Voters approved the underlying constitutional amendment 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent on April 21. Friday's ruling renders that vote a dead letter.

Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, writing for the majority, said the General Assembly had submitted the amendment to voters "in an unprecedented manner" and that the procedural defect "irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void."

Trump posted his reaction on Truth Social within minutes. "Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia," he wrote. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the ruling overturned "the will of more than three million voters" and that Democrats were "exploring all options" to reverse it. Late Friday, the Commonwealth and Democratic legislative leaders filed notice of an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The procedural fight

The case never turned on the shape of the districts. It turned on a single question: when does an "election" begin in Virginia?

State law requires that a constitutional amendment pass the General Assembly twice, in separate sessions, with an intervening state election in between. The point is to give voters a chance to weigh in on which lawmakers cast the second vote.

Democrats first passed the redistricting amendment on October 31, 2025, four days before the November 4 election. By that date, more than 1.3 million ballots had already been cast through Virginia's early-voting period — roughly 40 percent of the eventual total. Democrats then expanded their majorities in November, passed the amendment a second time in January, and scheduled the referendum for April.

Republicans sued, arguing the early voting meant the first legislative vote had come during the election rather than before it. Thomas R. McCarthy, who argued for the GOP plaintiffs, told the justices flatly: "None of these voters had any idea this was coming. And that's not how the process is supposed to work."

The majority agreed. "The General Assembly passed the proposed constitutional amendment for the first time well after voters had begun casting ballots during the 2025 general election," Kelsey wrote.

Chief Justice Cleo Powell, joined by Justices Thomas Mann and Junius Fulton III, dissented. She wrote that the majority's reading conflicted with how Virginia and federal law define an election. "The majority's definition creates an infinite voting loop that appears to have no established beginning, only a definitive end: Election Day."

The majority also flagged what it called a striking partisan asymmetry. Under the rejected map, 47 percent of Virginians who voted for major-party congressional candidates in 2024 would have been represented by 9 percent of the delegation. The other 51 percent would have controlled 91 percent.

The map and the money

The districts Democrats drew would have anchored five seats in Northern Virginia, redrawn four more across Richmond, Southside, and Hampton Roads to dilute Republican blocs, and stitched Charlottesville, Blacksburg, and Harrisonburg together into a single college-town district to offset surrounding Republican voters.

The campaign that led to the April vote was the most expensive ballot fight in Virginia history. Combined spending topped $93 million. The Republican National Committee, which led the legal challenge, said Democratic-aligned groups alone spent more than $66 million.

"Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose," RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, who had defended the amendment, said the court "contorted the plain language of the Constitution and Code of Virginia to give it a meaning that was never intended." Sen. Tim Kaine called the ruling "a sad day" and tied it to last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision narrowing the Voting Rights Act. Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who had championed the amendment, said her focus would now be on turnout in November.

The federal appeal

Democrats face long odds at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Virginia ruling rests on Virginia's constitution, and the federal high court generally avoids second-guessing state courts on questions of state law. In 2023, the justices declined a similar request from North Carolina Republicans trying to overturn a state Supreme Court decision against their map.

Chief Justice John Roberts handles emergency petitions out of the Fourth Circuit and will get the filing first. Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, posting on X, said he was "skeptical" the court would intervene.

Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics said Democrats may have moved too late. Had they started the process earlier, the procedural challenge might never have stuck. "Whatever odds you would have given to Republicans winning the House yesterday, I think you would raise them today," he said.

Even a losing appeal carries political value for Democrats. It lets them point at the conservative federal majority — already a target after the Voting Rights Act ruling — as the proximate cause of their setback.

The national board

Virginia is the latest move in a redistricting fight that has run all year. Trump pushed Texas Republicans to redraw their map last summer, targeting five Democratic incumbents. California Democrats answered with a voter-approved redraw aimed at five Republicans. Utah's Supreme Court imposed a map favoring Democrats. Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee have all enacted Republican-leaning lines.

Last week's Voting Rights Act ruling, Louisiana v. Callais, opened a second front. Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina are all moving on new maps, with several states pushing back primary dates to make room. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a map Thursday eliminating the Memphis seat held by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen and creating nine Republican-leaning districts.

If Friday's ruling holds and those Southern redraws finish on schedule, Republicans could net somewhere around 10 additional House seats relative to where the cycle began. The GOP can afford to lose two net seats in November and keep the majority.

Marcia S. Price, the Democratic state delegate who carried much of the redistricting fight in Richmond, was blunt about what comes next: "You lick your wounds, get back up and keep fighting."

The court has not yet issued its mandate. Democrats have asked for a pause while the federal appeal moves. Filing for Virginia's August 4 primary is already open. Absent a reversal, the November 3 ballot will be drawn on the same lines voters have used since 2022.

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