What the Passage of the Virginia Redistricting Plan Means for Control of Congress

A redistricting referendum that could allow Democrats to flip up to four House seats has passed in Virginia, marking a victory for the party in the ongoing nationwide battle to gain an electoral edge ahead of the fall midterm elections.

“Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms,” Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the state’s House of Delegates, said in a statement after the Associated Press called the tight race Tuesday night.

Following the ballot measure’s passage, with 51% support from some 3 million voters, Virginia’s constitution will be amended to temporarily grant the state’s general assembly, currently controlled by Democrats, the authority to redraw its congressional map.

Virginia has 11 congressional districts, six of which are currently represented by Democrats in the House. The proposed map could give the party the advantage in 10.

With the November midterms looming, that change could prove critical in Democrats' push to take control of the House, where Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority. Republicans had previously made a slight net gain in the mid-cycle redistricting war the parties have been waging in states around the country, garnering an edge in an additional eight or nine districts compared to roughly six new Democratic-leaning seats. The new Virginia map is poised to shift that balance back toward Democrats.

Read More: The Difference Between Gerrymandering and Redistricting, Explained

Under the measure, the state’s general assembly will retain the power to redraw voting lines until Oct. 31, 2030, at which point it will return to Virginia’snonpartisan redistricting commission.

Ahead of the vote on Tuesday, nearly $100 million in “dark money” contributions flooded into the redistricting battle in Virginia from tax-exempt non-profit groups that are not required to disclose their donations. 

The Virginians for Fair Elections referendum committee, the main group behind the push for the ballot measure, received $64 million in contributions from such organizations between December 2025 and April. All figures are based on campaign finance records reviewed by TIME.

The best-funded group that opposed the redistricting measure––the Virginians for Fair Maps referendum committee––raised at least $23 million in large contributions. 

Millions more were contributed to other, smaller groups amid the battle.

A Virginia judge had blocked the effort to change the map, but the state Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed, noting that it would decide on the amendment’s legality following Tuesday’s vote.

Voting maps are traditionally redrawn once a decade following the census to adjust for population changes. But last summer, President Donald Trump sparked a mid-cycle scramble by calling for Republican-led states to redistrict in order to create more red-leaning districts to help the party retain control of the House.

Several other states have enacted changes to their maps that are set to be in effect in the November midterms. 

Republicans stand to gain in several: Texas, the first state to respond to Trump’s call to action, could add as many as five Republican seats under a new map Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in August. Redistricting measures enacted in Missouri and North Carolina could add one additional GOP seat each, while in Ohio the party could secure one or two more as a result of a plan approved by a state commission 

California has successfully redistricted in an effort to counter the Republican moves, however, and stands to add five Democratic-leaning seats after voters in November approved a measure allowing the state to redraw its map.

Democrats could also be set to gain in deep-red Utah, where a judge threw out a map approved by the GOP-controlled legislature and approved one that could give Democrats one additional seat. 

Florida is pushing to change its map as well. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging lawmakers to approve redistricting in a special session set to begin later this month, potentially adding more seats for the GOP ahead of the midterms.