Californicating Virginia: Democrats’ Misleading Appeal to ‘Fairness’
My wife and I just cast our ballots in Virginia’s special election, which invites Virginia voters to approve a constitutional amendment to “temporarily” adopt new congressional districts. We knew going in that the amendment is an abomination, but as I marked “no” on my ballot, I found myself reflecting, with something akin to horror, on just how appallingly dishonest the phrasing of the amendment truly is — and how much this dishonesty is representative of the way Virginia Democrats have chosen to do business for at least the last decade.
The amendment reads as follows: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census.”
The amendment, a product of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, promoted now by our new governor, Abigail Spanberger, has been accompanied by a redistricting map depicting what the Democrats in Richmond mean by the term “fairness.” The existing Virginia congressional districts, drawn six years ago by a bipartisan commission, resulted in 2024 in a congressional delegation with six Democrat seats and five Republican. This tracked very closely with how Virginia voted overall in the presidential balloting, with 52 percent voting for Harris and 46 percent for Trump. (RELATED: Redistricting Betrayal in Virginia)
It takes the already outrageous dominance of the D.C. suburbs and spreads it throughout the state, and erases the last vestiges of purple in this recently purple state.
Now, however, the Democrats’ proposed redistricting would basically eliminate Republican representation in Congress, with 10 districts that would almost assuredly go Democrat, and only one Republican. This is gerrymandering at its most blatant, effectively disenfranchising conservatives across the state. It takes the already outrageous dominance of the D.C. suburbs and spreads it throughout the state, and erases the last vestiges of purple in this recently purple state.
Spanberger and the Democrats in the General Assembly have adopted, lock, stock, and barrel, the playbook that has destroyed fairness in California, Illinois, New York, and other states where an egregiously outrageous approach to electoral districting has, in fact, made it impossible for Republicans to be elected in anything even remotely proportional to their support among the voting population. (RELATED: The Abigail Spanberger Bait-and-Switch)
The proposed constitutional amendment makes an absolute mockery of the term “fairness.” Not only does it undermine the demonstrably fair current districting map in favor of one that is outrageously one-sided, but it doesn’t even pretend that the measure has anything to do with “fairness” here in Virginia.
The campaign advertising accompanying this amendment gives the game away. Instead of arguing that the proposal has anything to do with Virginia, the ads are all about Texas and Trump. Specifically, they complain that Trump has called for Texas to adopt congressional districts that would result in a gain of five or six Republican seats. The ads assume that Trump and the Republicans will get their way in Texas, and that this can only be redressed if Virginia adopts the Democrats’ proposed redistricting. Needless to say, there’s no accounting for the fact that the process in Texas started in response to the fact that, for years, the Democrats have loaded the deck in their favor again and again, in state after state.
But never mind Texas, or Greg Abbott, or anyone else, this is really all about Trump. The ads pitch a “yes” vote entirely in terms of “stopping Trump,” with the explicit assumption that stopping Trump is good for Virginia and good for the country. If Trump supports it, then, by definition, it must be bad.
Sadly, as the last election in Virginia demonstrated, running against Trump is a winning strategy in this state. Abigail Spanberger painted her opponent as a slavish follower of Trump — I use the term “slavish” advisedly, since it captures, disgustingly, how the Democrats chose to paint Winsome Earle-Sears. Although Glenn Youngkin was able to break through in the previous election, the plain and simple fact is that the D.C. suburbs throw their hefty electoral weight behind left-wing candidates — and they hate Trump with a fiery passion.
Now the Democrats want to cement their control of Virginia, and they are willing to employ every trick in the book to make this happen. Dishonesty has long been a hallmark of how Virginia Democrats operate. Our district sits on a border between suburban D.C. and the more rural hinterland, and historically we’ve been a battleground. For years now, we’ve seen some of the most deceptive political advertising one could ever imagine, as Democrat candidates try to paint themselves as moderates.
This, of course, was how Spanberger presented herself. A moderate, fair-minded, law enforcement-friendly, notably quiet on such hot-button issues as transgender bathroom access or illegal immigration. But now, safely ensconced in the governor’s mansion, she’s revealed her true radical colors, evident in everything from aggressive gun control proposals to nullification of immigration law, and an “in your face” refusal to cooperate with ICE. Again and again, as in the case of the redistricting amendment, she and the Democrats present themselves as the “anti-Trump.” And they’re just getting started.
There are already whispers of a “Newsom/Spanberger” ticket in the 2028 presidential election, and, if that should come to pass, we will no doubt be treated, once again, to the image of moderation Spanberger has cultivated every time she’s contested an election — and then abandoned once the election is over. In the meantime, rest assured that if the Democrats get their way, this supposedly “temporary” constitutional amendment will become permanent.
Virginia voters have until April 21 to vote “no” on the proposed redistricting constitutional amendment. I hope and pray that those who genuinely value fair elections in Virginia will turn out ‘hugely’ and send a message to Spanberger and the Democrats in the General Assembly that we’re not yet ready to see our state “Californicated.”
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James H. McGee retired in 2018 after nearly four decades as a national security and counter-terrorism professional, working primarily in the nuclear security field. Since retiring, he’s begun a second career as a thriller writer. His most recent novel, The Zebras from Minsk, was featured among National Review’s favorite books in 2025. You can find The Zebras from Minsk (and its predecessor, Letter of Reprisal) on Amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.