Virginia
In rural Virginia, excitement and dread grows over Democrats’ redistricting referendum
LOUISA, Va. — Michael Shull never imagined that a Democrat from the wealthy suburbs of Washington would represent his community in Congress. His corner of Virginia, with its sprawling farms and winding country roads, has been electing Republicans for more than three decades.
Then came an unusual nationwide redistricting battle, with Democrats and Republicans redrawing congressional lines to boost their chances in November’s midterm elections. Virginia could be next as voters consider a new map that would pair conservative rural areas with liberal suburbs, diluting Republicans’ electoral clout.
“Politicians should be elected to be their people’s voice,” said Shull, a Republican member of Augusta County’s board of supervisors. “Not their party’s voice.”
The vote on the constitutional amendment is on April 21, and early balloting has begun. If voters pass the referendum and it survives a court challenge, Shull’s area within the county would be split between the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts. While the 9th District would be the state’s lone Republican stronghold, the 7th District would resemble a lobster with the long tail beginning in Democrat-dominated Arlington and two claws reaching south into rural communities.
Congressional districts are usually redrawn once a decade, but President Donald Trump started a chain reaction last year by encouraging Texas Republicans to devise a new map to help the party in November. After a cascade of redistricting efforts, Republicans believe they can win a combined nine more U.S. House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while Democrats think they can win a total of six more seats in California and Utah. Virginia could give Democrats an extra four seats — enough to overturn the GOP’s slim majority, at least as things stand now.
“It’s about making sure that we fight back to what Trump’s done,” said U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., He said the party needs to persuade voters that the referendum is “not about embracing gerrymandering.”
“I feel optimistic, but it’s close,” he said.
A print edition of the Goochland Gazette, with a front page story on the Virginia redistricting referendum, lies on a table at GG’s Pizza as members of the Goochland Democratic Committee Jen Strozier, Doug Mock, Chris Svoboda, Richard Grebe and Judi Sheppard hold a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Maiden, Va. Credit: AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
A rural-urban divide
The referendum comes at a moment when Virginia Democrats have tried to make up ground in rural areas. Last year, Democrat Abigail Spanberger campaigned for governor in oyster towns and agrarian hamlets to engage with more conservative voters. Before that winning campaign, she had represented a congressional district that mixed city suburbs, exurbs and adjacent rural communities.
“Anyone who’s doing their job will be responsive to the communities that they seek to represent,” Spanberger said.
But her results were mixed. In counties where fewer people lived in rural areas, she outperformed Democrat Kamala Harris’ Virginia showing in the 2024 presidential race by an average of 6 percentage points or 7 percentage points. In more rural counties, Spanberger gained about 2 percentage points to 4 percentage points.
Democrat Anthony Flaccavento, former congressional candidate and co-founder of the nonprofit Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, is torn over the referendum.
Members of the Goochland Democratic Committee Jen Strozier, Doug Mock, Chris Svoboda, Richard Grebe and Judi Sheppard hold a lunch meeting on future get-out-the-vote efforts for the Virginia redistricting referendum, Thursday, April 2, 2026, at GG’s Pizza in Maiden, Va. Credit: AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
“At some level, it feels like kicking the can down the road -– which is something that my party has done for a long time –- when it comes to winning back rural and working-class voters,” Flaccavento said.
A welcome change for some
Democrats in rural areas who are tired of being outnumbered by their Republican neighbors are embracing the redistricting plan.
“Fight Back, Vote Yes,” said a sign at a No Kings protest in Louisa County. A second said, “Vote Yes. Stop ICE. No Kings.”
State Del. Dan Helmer, who helped spearhead the redistricting effort, greeted protesters and spoke to the cheering crowd. Helmer is now one of at least four Democrats running in the 7th District.
Helmer said Republicans “think that in red areas like Louisa and in rural areas, that people don’t know what’s going on. But I’m looking around right now, I see strong, proud patriots who know exactly what is going on, who know that we have an aspiring dictator who is trying to take away our democracy.”
Jennifer Lee, who has lived in Louisa for 33 years, said she was eager to support the new district lines. Lee said she felt Republicans were perpetuating a double standard, falsely claiming the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from Trump but accepting his push to eliminate Democratic seats through gerrymandering.
“That’s their slogan, right? ‘Stop the steal,’” Lee said. “But they started ‘the steal.’ They’re stealing the seats now in all these districts.”
Democrats see a fight for survival
At a town hall hosted by Democrats at a rural Goochland County recreation center, voters nibbled on finger foods and passed around bottled water as they debated whether redistricting violated some kind of moral code.
“I’m sorry, morality just goes out the door right now. We have to do what it takes for us to survive,” said Bruce Silverman, a local nephrologist. He was voting “yes.”
At one point, Roberta Thacker-Oliver stood up to talk. She votes in the rural 9th District, which would become even more Republican with the new map.
“In the redistricting, the 9th is going to become bigger and redder,” she said, adding, “I need to know what to tell my community about why they need to take one for the team.”
“What do we tell them?” she said.
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With its season on the line, Virginia Tech softball takes on LSU today at 2 p.m. ET. The Hokies need to win two games to advance to Super Regionals, while the Tigers need just one. Read below for a game thread, organized in reverse chronological order.
FINAL | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
That’ll do it. The Hokies’ 2026 season comes to an end. Avery Hodge makes the catch, and LSU is headed to the Super Regionals. For the fourth straight season, Virginia Tech comes up empty in regional play.
B7 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Monticelli has Gaby Mizelle down in a 0-2 count. The LSU starter has retired 15 straight Hokies.
B7 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Rachel Castine flies out to left on the 2-2 delivery. Lorenz backed up and caught it on the warning track. The Hokies are down to their final out of the season. They need five runs.
B7 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Nora Abromavage pops up. The Hokies are down to two outs.
M7 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
The Hokies set down the side in order. Just like yesterday, they sit in a five-run hole entering the bottom of the seventh with their season hanging in the balance. Three outs to produce at least five runs, or their season’s over.
E6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
A five-pitch sixth followed a seven-pitch fifth for Monticelli. The Hokies will enter B7 — if they can hold LSU below three runs in T7 to avoid the enacting of the run-rule — in at least a five-run rut. Sounds familiar, though.
B6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Four. Kylie Aldridge popped up high to the pitcher’s circle. Paytn Montcelli has retired the Hokies’ last 12 batters.
B6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Edwards to Edwards (Kylee to Tori) for the grounder. Virginia Tech has five outs left.
M6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Layton escaped the jam. Bases were loaded, but Layton worked back from a 2-0 count for a strikeout. Virginia Tech has six outs to make up five runs.
T6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Avery Hodge reached on a fielding error by Lynch (The sequence that scored Franklin was ruled the same.). Bases are loaded.
T6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Ruling on the field stands. The inning is not over, and the Hokies are out of challenges.
T6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Virginia Tech is challenging that Tori Edwards left early. It looks very, very close on the TV replay.
T6 | LSU 7, Virginia Tech 2
Ally Hutchins RBI single. LSU leads by five. Looks like Rohs came up limping after the sequence.
T6 | LSU 6, Virginia Tech 2
Tori Edwards, single through the left on her first pitch. Runners at the corners.
T6 | LSU 6, Virginia Tech 2
Franklin blasted a one-hop shot that ricocheted off the right-field wall. Leadoff double.
E5 | LSU 6, Virginia Tech 2
Make it six. Monticelli has retired the Hokies’ last 10 batters.
B5 | LSU 6, Virginia Tech 2
Man, that one looks like it could’ve gone out. Addison Foster nearly skied a solo shot. But Franklin tracked it down and grabbed it when it was over the wall. Somehow managed to keep it. Seven outs left.
T5 | LSU 6, Virginia Tech 2
Call confirmed — and the Hokies lose a challenge. Emma Mazzarone is coming out; in comes Avery Layton.
T5 | LSU 6*, Virginia Tech 2
Another run scratches across when Virginia Tech logged a fielder’s choice at first. Believe Hokies head coach Pete D’Amour is challenging that the runner from first to second interfered with the throw to first.
T5| LSU 5, Virginia Tech 2
No outs. Rohs saved more runs from getting across by corraling it at short. The Hokies are now down three.
T5 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Mazzarone conceded a full-count walk, then a wild pitch. She’s now on her second straight full count; this one’s against Ally Hutchins.
E4 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Another 1-2-3 frame. Monticelli pitched two full-count at-bats, but circumnavigated both.
M4 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Bergeron reached on a fielder’s choice that outed Alix Franklin at third. The Hokies have yielded nine hits today, but they’re only down two heading into the bottom half of the fourth.
T4 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Or not. Alix Franklin got one in the zone and doubled deep into left. LSU has one aboard with two outs.
T4 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Flashing the leather. Kylee Edwards fired a liner that Annika Rohs snagged. Two outs. After the HBP, Mazzarone appears to have settled down.
E3 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
1-2-3 frame for Monticelli to close out the third. She set down the side in only seven pitches.
M3 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Abromavage snagged a fly ball, and the bases were left loaded. A four-spot for LSU — their second this weekend against the Hokies — has them up two as we head into B3.
T3 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
LSU challenged for a hit-by-pitch and got it. The bases are loaded with two outs. The Hokies are in trouble.
T3 | LSU 4, Virginia Tech 2
Ally Hutchins blooped a double up near the right-field line. Looks like Carrico jammed up Hutchins, but she still got it up. Rachel Castine couldn’t corral it, and Bergeron scored. Carrico’s outing is done; in comes Emma Mazzarone.
T3 | LSU 3, Virginia Tech 2
And just like that, the Tigers are in front. Tori Edwards grounded out to place Alix Franklin and Kylee Edwards on second and third base, respectively. Then, Maci Bergeron drilled a single through the left side to score both.
T3 | Virginia Tech 2, LSU 1
Solo shot, Jalia Lassiter. The Hokies’ lead has been sliced in half.
E2 | Virginia Tech 2, LSU 0
Lynch flew out to center to leave Foster on, but like in B1, the Hokies did more damage, scoring their second run of the game. The two runs they’ve scored today are the first that LSU has allowed this whole regional.
B2 | Virginia Tech 2, LSU 0
Holy moly. Virginia Tech quickly picked up two outs. Annika Rohs pushed a single up the middle and advanced to second via a passed ball. Then, Foster singled to second and beat the throw while Rohs went for a gutsy head-first slide to home.
M2 | Virginia Tech 1, LSU 0
No dice for LSU. It placed a runner aboard via a leadoff single from Maci Bergeron (then, a fielder’s choice that retired Bergeron as the lead runner). Carrico was worked to two full counts in the first, but she didn’t go through any in T2.
E1 | Virginia Tech 1, LSU 0
Monticelli stranded two with a Nora Abromavage pop-up. The Hokies, though, have already put up more hits today (three) than they did against the Tigers in yesterday’s run-rule (two).
B1 | Virginia Tech 1, LSU 0
LSU starter Paytn Monticelli struck out Zoe Yaeger looking on a 2-2 delivery and induced a 0-2 fly ball from Kylie Aldridge. She did concede a two-out single through the left to Michelle Chatfield, though.
B1 | Virginia Tech 1, LSU 0
LSU allows its first run in this regional. It was a Jordan Lynch single that zipped down the right-field line, bringing Foster around. That’s also Lynch’s first RBI in the regional.
B1 | Virginia Tech 0, LSU 0
Leadoff double from Addison Foster. That’s her 20th of the season — she broke the program’s single-season record yesterday.
M1 | Virginia Tech 0, LSU 0
Tori Edwards worked back from a 0-2 count to a payoff pitch, but she grounded to short. Addison Foster, Jordan Lynch and Zoe Yaeger are due up for the #Hokies.
T1 | Virginia Tech 0, LSU 0
Sierra Daniel produced a full-count single that bounced down near the left-field line, but Carrico induced a foul out of shortstop Kylee Edwards. Virginia Tech’s one out away.
T1 | Virginia Tech 0, LSU 0
Virginia Tech starting arm Bree Carrico fires off the first pitch to LSU’s Julia Lassiter; it went for a grounder. For perhaps the final time this season, we’re off.
Pre-Game
The Hokies’ starting lineup is as follows:
- Addison Foster – Center Fielder
- Jordan Lynch – Third Baseman
- Zoe Yaeger – Designated Player
- Kylie Aldridge – Catcher
- Michelle Chatfield – First Baseman
- Nora Abromavage – Left Fielder
- Rachel Castine – Second Baseman
- Gaby Mizelle – Right Fielder
- Annika Rohs – Shortstop
Starting Pitcher: RHP Bree Carrico
Follow
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun-rights groups.
The limits on “ assault firearms,” as they are described by the legislation, are among two dozen new restrictions and regulations on guns enacted by the Democratic governor in her first few months in office. That marks a sharp policy reversal from her Republican predecessor, who had vetoed many similar measures.
“Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday. “We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.”
The new gun restrictions move Virginia closer to the likes of California, Illinois and New York, which similarly have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. They also highlight a continued national divide on gun policy, as various Republican-led states have taken steps to relax firearm restrictions that they describe as an infringement on Second Amendment rights.
A dozen states now target semi-automatic firearms
The new Virginia law, which takes effect July 1, will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, for people to buy, sell, transfer, import or manufacture an “assault firearm.”
The measure defines that term to include semi-automatic rifles or pistols with a magazine capacity of more than 15 rounds. It also includes firearms with other characteristics, such as rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine that have a second handgrip or a collapsible stock. The prohibition also applies to magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds. For most people, there’s no penalty for merely possessing such weapons.
Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., already have laws prohibiting the sale an manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, though the details vary. Hawaii, for example, prohibits certain semi-automatic pistols and high-capacity magazines, but not semi-automatic rifles.
Gun-rights groups challenge the Virginia law
Legal challenges came swiftly after Spanberger signed the legislation Thursday. The National Rifle Association, joined by other groups, sued in both federal and state court, asserting violations of the right to bear arms.
“The firearms and magazines banned in this law aren’t bizarre and unusual outliers, they’re among the most commonly owned guns and magazines in the country,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the federal lawsuit. “They’re owned in the tens of millions by peaceable Americans who use them overwhelmingly lawfully.”
The U.S. Department of Justice also vowed to sue to block the Virginia law from being enforced.
The Virginia measure would “infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to enjoy and use AR-15 rifles for lawful purposes by making it a crime to purchase and sell them,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the department’s civil rights division, wrote in an April letter to Spanberger.
Courts have upheld other bans on semi-automatic weapons
So far, laws restricting certain semi-automatic firearms generally have been upheld, including by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Virginia, Maryland and several additional states.
That appellate court twice upheld a Maryland law banning dozens of types of semi-automatic weapons, describing them a 2024 ruling as “military-style weapons” that are ill-suited for self-defense. It concluded that “the Maryland law fits comfortably within our nation’s tradition of firearms regulation.”
The U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to hear a challenge in that Maryland case. But gun-rights advocates remain hopeful of a different outcome in future cases, noting that three conservative justices on the nine-member court disagreed with the decision and a fourth expressed skepticism that such firearm bans are constitutional.
A change in governor leads to a change in laws
Former Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation each of the past two years that would have prohibited the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms.
But Youngkin’s term ended in January, and he was succeeded by Spanberger. The transition presented a huge opportunity for advocates of gun restrictions, who already had support within the Democratic-led Legislature.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer and U.S. House member, had previously been a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, a group founded after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut claimed the lives of 26 people in 2012. The group lists 20% of the Democrats in the Virginia House as its past volunteers.
“The fact that a former Moms Demand Action volunteer just signed an assault weapons ban in the home state of the NRA speaks volumes about how dramatically the political calculus around gun safety has shifted,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the umbrella organization for Moms Demand Action..
Republican states act to expand gun rights
While Virginia tightens gun regulations, many Republican-led states have been expanding gun rights.
On the same day Spanberger signed the semi-automatic firearm restrictions, Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature gave final approval to legislation creating a school ranger program that could let trained volunteers carry firearms in schools.
A law signed by Spanberger last month raised the age to purchase a handgun in Virginia from 18 to 21. By contrast, Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a law last month lowering the age from 21 to 18 for carrying concealed guns without a state permit.
Yet another law signed by Spanberger last month opens new grounds for lawsuits against the firearms industry. That came shortly after Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law limiting liability lawsuits against the firearms industry.
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