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Virginia Supreme Court considers whether to block voter-approved US House map favoring Democrats

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Virginia Supreme Court considers whether to block voter-approved US House map favoring Democrats


The Virginia Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a Republican challenge to the redrawn congressional map that was approved by voters last week and could net Democrats four additional U.S. House seats.

The case contends that the Democratic-led General Assembly violated procedural requirements by placing the constitutional amendment before voters to authorize mid-decade redistricting. If the court agrees that lawmakers broke the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week’s statewide vote meaningless.

The Virginia court proceedings mark the latest twist in a national redistricting battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an advantage in a November election that will determine whether Republicans maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. House.

President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw districts to their favor last year in an attempt to win several additional House seats. That set off a chain reaction of similar moves in other states, leading to the voter approval last week of Virginia’s new map.

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Next up is Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has included congressional redistricting on the agenda for a special session of the GOP-controlled Legislature beginning Tuesday.

On Sunday, Trump said he was in favor of the Florida attempt and criticized the Virginia amendment that was pushed by Democrats.

“It’s a very bad thing for our country. Very, very bad,” he told Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

A poster on the Virginia redistricting referendum is seen during voting at Mason Square, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. Credit: AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

So far, the two major parties have battled to a near draw. Republicans think they could win up to nine more seats under revised districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats think they could win as many as 10 additional seats under new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But legal challenges remain in both Virginia and Missouri.

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Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who were elected from districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census. The new districts, which narrowly won voter approval last Tuesday, could give Democrats an improved chance to win 10 districts.

At issue before the state Supreme Court is whether those districts should be invalidated because of the process used by lawmakers.

Because the state’s redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, lawmakers had to propose a new constitutional amendment to redraw districts themselves. That required approval of a resolution in two separate legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between, to place an amendment on the ballot.

In January, a judge in rural Tazewell County, in southwestern Virginia, ruled that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session last fall. Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. also ruled that lawmakers failed to initially approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year’s general election and that the state had failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law. As a result, he said, the amendment is invalid and void.

The Virginia Supreme Court placed Hurley’s order on hold and allowed the redistricting vote to proceed before hearing arguments on the case. Republicans have filed at least two additional legal challenges, which also are winding their way through the courts.

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Southwest, Central Virginia Weather | 11 p.m. – May 20, 2026

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Southwest, Central Virginia Weather | 11 p.m. – May 20, 2026


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At WSLS, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes. Read our article to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.



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Summer travel season kicks off with high fuel prices across Virginia

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Summer travel season kicks off with high fuel prices across Virginia


More than a million Virginians are expected to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend — despite rising gas prices.

Right now, the state average is around $4.30 a gallon. That’s 50 percent higher than it was three months ago, before the war in Iran.

Right now, it will cost you $4.29 a gallon to fill up at the 76 on Langhorne Road. And prices could keep climbing, potentially making this the most expensive summer at the pump in years.

GasBuddy says the national average could hit $4.48 a gallon by Memorial Day, a big jump from $3.14 this time last year.

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Prices may keep rising, averaging around $4.80 a gallon throughout the summer.

SEE ALSO: Veto halts bipartisan push to lower medication prices in Virginia

Despite this, experts say many Virginians are still willing to hit the road for the holiday weekend. They are just finding alternative ways to save.

Patrick De Haan, petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said, “If you’re driving long distances, going 65 miles an hour instead of 75 can boost your fuel efficiency 10 to 25%. The equivalent of getting two gallons for free when you fill up.”

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee when these prices will drop. That is why experts say you should plan ahead and shop around. You can also save by filling up earlier in the week.

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A Republican mocked a child over ‘propaganda.’ Ironic. | Opinion

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A Republican mocked a child over ‘propaganda.’ Ironic. | Opinion



Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol.

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Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, taught a child a very important lesson. You’re never too young to learn that politicians will fail you.

Foxx made headlines in May when she responded to a 10-year-old Greensboro student named Christian Mango, who wrote to the congresswoman proposing a $5,000 tax credit for people buying electric vehicles. Christian sent the letter as part of a school project where the kids were challenged to write persuasive essays on topics of their choosing.

Instead of being supportive of the child’s educational endeavors or simply not responding, Foxx chose this moment to respond with vitriol, according to a letter dated May 1 that Christian’s mother, Emily, shared on social media.

“Please ask your teacher to explain propaganda to you,” Foxx wrote. “While I will never be able to know, my guess is that your teachers will not give you a good educational experience and help you learn to think, as they are too interested in indoctrinating you. How sad.”

This would be a wild response to receive as any constituent – let alone one who’s still in elementary school. Foxx – a former educator and the former chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce – should know that the best answer to someone you disagree with is no response. Especially if the person you disagree with is a 10-year-old.

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But beyond the embarrassing decision to respond in such a hateful way, there’s irony in Foxx’s response. She is clearly unable to see that the real “propaganda” in this country is coming from the mouth of President Donald Trump and members of the Republican Party. If there is anybody who knows what propaganda looks like, it’s the Republicans.

What is propaganda anyway? Here’s what Republicans have been up to.

In the interest of educating all of us, I decided to look up the term “propaganda” in the dictionary. According to Merriam-Webster, “propaganda” is “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” 

What does that look like? Well, it looks like everything we’ve seen out of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party for the last decade.

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“Propaganda” is Trump’s insistence that he is always right. It’s him putting his name and face on everything. It’s him lying about an election being stolen for years. It’s harming media institutions that call lies into question, calling them the “enemy of the American people.”

It is disparaging immigrants as the source of the country’s problems. It’s using extremist rhetoric in White House communications. It’s posting an AI image depicting yourself as Jesus.

It’s lying to Americans about an economy that is clearly flatlining, that you claim is the best it’s ever been. It’s making promises you can’t deliver on. It’s claiming that tariffs will save the country while costs are simultaneously pushed onto consumers. It’s claiming huge trade deals with China without elaborating on the details. It’s saying gas prices are down when they’re not. This is all propaganda, and it’s affecting the day-to-day lives of Americans who take him at his word.

The GOP has mastered propaganda. They have convinced their supporters that they are the sole saviors of the nation, that they are the only ones who can make America great again, while they’re aggressively making it worse. Meanwhile, educators in this country have to deal with attacks on their profession while making a dismal salary and teaching children that their voices can make a difference.

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North Carolina deserves better than Virginia Foxx

Christian’s mother was rightfully angry about the letter in her Instagram post.

“This is a totally inappropriate response to one of her youngest constituents,” Mango wrote. “Clearly she is out of touch. I’m embarrassed that she represents NC.”

Unfortunately, the congresswoman has a history of embarrassing remarks and controversies. She once said that Matthew Shepard’s death was a “hoax,” for which she later apologized. She used a racial epithet on the House floor in 2009. In the aftermath of the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021, Foxx was fined $5,000 for failing to go through metal detectors to get to the House floor. She’s been a loose cannon, and this incident is not out of character.

I’ve long wondered what it would take for Foxx to lose re-election in North Carolina’s fifth district. It seems that, like Trump, no reprehensible comment or behavior is enough to warrant her ouster from Congress. But the people here deserve better than a politician who talks down to anyone she disagrees with. Lord knows they deserve better than someone who chooses to have beef with a fourth grader instead of doing literally anything else that would improve the quality of life in the state.

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I hope this incident peels back the curtain and shows Foxx’s constituents who she really is. I just doubt it’ll make much of a difference.

In the meantime, I’m sure Christian and his mother will find comfort in the fact that Republicans are making sure kids everywhere learn exactly what propaganda is.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social





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