VA Dem rejects ‘power grab’ claims on Spanberger redistricting as GOP warns 10–1 map would split rural vote

A top Virginia Democrat is defending support for the redistricting effort critics are calling a "power grab" on the part of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Richmond leadership, dismissing claims that rural Virginians will have their voices diluted by an urban-centric map.

The redistricting referendum, before voters now through April 21, would redraw Virginia’s 6-5 Democrat-majority congressional map to a likely 10-1 spread, leaving only Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., from the Old Dominion’s mountainous far southwest in office for the GOP.

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., a first-term Loudoun County congressman, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the goal of the redistricting remains as stated in its referendum text: to "restore fairness" in congressional apportionment. 

When Virginians head to the polls, he argues, issues like the Iran conflict, healthcare funding and unease over the state of immigration enforcement will be on their minds.

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"There’s two different things here … there’s the redistricting amendment: the reason the general assembly pushed this forward was to be a response to Texas and other red states who are planning to do this — the idea was to even the playing field going into the midterms," he said.

"The reason I believe people will vote for it is because they are angry at the Trump administration in Virginia," he added.

Subramanyam pushed back on claims from Republicans, including rural Rep. Ben Cline of the Shenandoah Valley, that areas like his, primed to be chopped up by the new map, will suddenly see their next representative ignore their needs. His district's population is centered in Loudoun, outside Washington, D.C., but it extends into rural Washington, Va., Sperryville and Warrenton, which together are geographically larger than the dense suburbs.

"I spend a lot of time in Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, even though I live in Loudoun County, and they actually get a disproportionate amount of federal funding and appropriations requests from my office because we are working really hard in those counties and know they have a lot of needs."

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Subramanyam said that even if lawmakers hail from Virginia’s cities or suburbs, they will often go "out of their way" to support the counties they don’t live in because they need a voice.

"What I would say to [critics] is they should talk to my constituents in Fauquier and Rappahannock, who may not vote for me in big numbers, but they appreciate that we're working really hard for them anyway."

In that regard, Democrats are already lining up to run for Congress in a district that includes part of Subramanyam’s current area — a lobster-shaped district that Republicans claim is drawn intentionally to include a tiny slice of Fairfax and Loudoun for population’s sake, then expand far south to Powhatan and west to West Virginia’s state line while remaining blue.

State Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, progenitor of the state’s new gun control panoply, along with former first lady Dorothy McAuliffe and Jack Smith prosecutor JP Cooney, are all seeking the drafted seat.

Cline previously told Fox News Digital he worries for his current constituents, adding that the Shenandoah Valley is Virginia’s top agricultural area and farmers’ voices will have to be divided among five new federal lawmakers.

Expanding on voter sentiment, Fox News Digital asked Subramanyam about recent polling showing Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s popularity taking a hit amid her support for redistricting and other liberal priorities moving through the state legislature.

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"I wouldn't read too much into it," he said.

"She certainly is very early into her administration and has a lot of time to show people what she’s all about."

Subramanyam predicted that if there were a repeat election tomorrow, Spanberger would again defeat former Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears by the same 15 points as in November.

"We’re seeing that all over the country right now -- backlash against the Trump administration is finding its way into school board races and Supreme Court races in Wisconsin and places like Georgia."

Just down Leesburg Pike from Subramanyam’s district, Rep. Donald Beyer of Alexandria offered his own comments on the redistricting effort, telling NBC News a "yes" vote is crucial for "those of us who believe that taking back the House is the most significant thing we can do to stop Donald Trump."

Beyer — whose seat is considered safe with or without a cartographic change — did mention the "fairness" aspect, calling the new 10-1 Democrat-friendly map "totally fair for America" even if critics found it "unfair in Virginia."

Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, whose rural district is closer to Birmingham than Washington, pushed back on the collective sentiment, telling Fox News Digital that the new map is "manifestly unfair" to the rest of Virginia.

"We’re a 51-49 state, not a 90-10 state. If they’re willing to silence nearly half the Commonwealth’s voters in the name of ‘fairness,’ what else are they willing to do?" he said.

Kilgore’s Senate counterpart, Minority Leader Ryan McDougle of Hanover, echoed him in recent comments to Fox News Digital, saying the new map is just the next step in the "con job" agenda from Democrats who claim to prioritize affordability but instead are "trying to shove another partisan power grab down our throats, this time wrapped in the phony label of ‘fairness.'"