In just three weeks, Virginia voters will have the chance to start casting ballots in a special election on a constitutional amendment to redraw the commonwealth’s congressional districts.
Two groups have already formed: Virginians for Fair Elections, which is trying to win approval for the amendment, and Virginians for Fair Maps, which is pushing a no vote.
“I’m going to fight this by any means necessary,” said Jason Miyares with Virginians for Fair Maps and former Republican candidate for Virginia attorney general.
Opponents had hoped the courts would block the special election, and a lower court did. But Friday, after an appeal to the Virginia Supreme court, the election is allowed to move ahead.
Representatives from Virginians for Fair Elections say redrawing the congressional districts, which would give Democrats a huge advantage in the midterms, is needed to counter Trump’s efforts, which have added GOP districts in red states.
“There is a general desire to meaningfully push back and speak up, and this is giving voters an opportunity to do that,” said Keren Dongo with Virginians for Fair Elections.
Dongo is helping to lead the effort. She says in many ways, it will resemble a traditional candidate campaign with outreach that extends even to door knocking.
“There is no principal face of this campaign,” Dongo said. “It really is Virginians, so it’s people speaking up at their book club or at their community meetings and saying, ‘This what I’m doing, this is what I’m involved in and here’s why.”
The measure’s opponents say they too are ready to battle it out to try to convince Virginians the amendment is an unprecedented power grab.
“We’re ready to roll,” Virginia House Minority Leader Del. Terry Kilgore. “We’re getting our folks together and we’re going to make a case to Virginians that this is unfair, this is unprecedented and quite frankly it’s against the law, we believe, and we’ll ultimately win in court.”
But political analyst Bob Holsworth says with the current political climate — especially in Virginia — the “yes” vote campaign starts with an edge.
“I think the Democrats begin with an initial advantage largely because I think they are going to try to make this one more referendum on Donald Trump, and at least in Virginia, there has been a big appetite for that right now,” he said.
The special election is set for April 21, but early voting starts on March 6. That adds an intensity and urgency for each campaign to both educate voters and let them know how quickly they need to act to weigh in on a measure that could create new maps.
Even though the Virginia Supreme Court gave the special election the green light, they still have to weigh in on whether the process of setting it up is legal — but that won’t happen until after the special election. So even if voters approve the amendment, the court could still have the final say.
