CULPEPER, Va. — Virginia Republican leaders make their closing argument to voters that a proposed redistricting amendment on the April 21 ballot would tilt the state’s congressional map toward Democrats, intensifying a broader national fight over control of the U.S. House ahead of the midterm elections.
At issue is a referendum that would give the Democratic-controlled General Assembly authority to redraw congressional districts mid-decade — a move Republicans argue breaks with precedent and risks diluting representation in rural, GOP-leaning areas. Democrats counter that the measure would correct partisan imbalances in the current map.
The debate comes just months after Democrats swept Virginia’s 2025 statewide elections and also expanded their legislative majority. That power shift has raised the stakes of the redistricting question, with Republicans warning it could pave the way for Democrats to gain multiple seats in Congress.
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“Culpepper, we’ve been making zoom calls. We’ve been doing some door knocking. We had a rally on April 11… We’ve designed our own signs, a rural votes matter sign… but we’ve ordered them four times because we keep running out,“ Lynne Richman Bell, Culpepper County Republican Committee Chair, said to the Washington Examiner.
“So the rural votes matter was really a theme that resounded… We’re very pleased that that theme was something that people are passionate about. So we’re feeling really good about the sleeping giant being rural Virginia, stepping up and voting,” Richman said.
Republicans, including former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and activist Scott Presler, have framed the amendment as a “power grab,” arguing it would concentrate influence in Northern Virginia at the expense of less populous regions.
“This is about fair representation,” Presler told the Washington Examiner.
“Rural Virginia is going to be gerrymandered for Democrats. The majority of the Commonwealth of Virginia is not represented… and so I think to anyone that sees it, that’s why independent voices are coming over to the no vote,” Presler continued.
Presler, who is running for committeeman for the Republican State Committee in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has emerged as a powerful Republican activist who has campaigned heavily for the SAVE America Act, and vowed that if it is not passed in the next 12 days he would work to get Democrat senators elected.
“So I’ve been pretty diplomatic when it comes to the SAVE AMERICA Act. I’ve met with 90 members of Congress.“
“The Senate is where the SAVE America Act currently is not being debated and is dying on the bill. The House has done its job. The President wants it. The Senate isn’t doing it. And so I’m offering an ultimatum,” Presler said.
“Today’s day, 109 of us, Senate Majority Leader [John] Thune pass the SAVE AMERICA Act into law. Senator Thune has 12 more days to pass the act, and if he does not, I will be going to Texas to help defeat Republican Senator Cornyn and help elect Ken Paxton to the United States Senate. If Senator Thune doesn’t give us the SAVE AMERICA Act, I will be going to Louisiana to defeat Senator Cassidy and either put in Fleming or Julia Letlow as the next senator of the great state of Louisiana,” Presler said on Sunday.
“Basically, the American people are fed up, and our message is, you give us what we elected you to do in 2024 giving the popular vote, vote or we will take away your positions of power, respectfully, peacefully, but most importantly, democratically, with balance, and that’s what’s going to happen with the SAVE America Act,” Presler told the Washington Examiner.
Crowd energy was high throughout the rally, with attendees frequently cheering and applauding as speakers argued that, despite being outspent by Democrats, Republicans have the momentum heading into Election Day.
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Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), who represents a largely rural district, has also been involved in the push to defeat the measure.
“The Democrats are trying to roll over rural Virginia, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to do with this gerrymander, they are trying to Roll over rural voices,“ Cline said to an engaged crowd.
“I represent the sixth congressional district. It is being chopped into five pieces. This is the number one agriculture district in the Commonwealth. This is a district where I serve specifically on the Appropriations Subcommittee on agriculture, so that I can carry rural voices to Washington and make sure that in these appropriations bills that agriculture is represented that is being destroyed through this gerrymander amendment, they are trying to split apart all of the valley,“ Cline continued.
A Washington Post/George Mason University poll found 52% of likely voters support the amendment, compared to 47% opposed. The same poll suggested Republican-leaning voters may have a turnout advantage, potentially tightening the outcome.
“People are kind of like, tired and fed up [with] the unfairness. It’s really pushing people to come out and say, ‘Hey, no, we’re not for this,’ it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s go out there.’ Let’s let these people hear a voice, our voices, and just let them know that we’re not okay with this,“ Jennifer Rossi, a Culpepper resident who attended the rally, said to the Washington Examiner.
Democrats, meanwhile, argue the referendum is necessary to address what they describe as existing partisan gerrymandering and ensure fairer representation in a rapidly changing state.
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Virginia’s vote is unfolding within a larger, national redistricting push. In 2025, President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states, notably the Republican stronghold of Texas, to revisit congressional maps mid-decade, prompting counter-efforts from Democrats in other states, including California.
With the midterms approaching, the outcome in Virginia may offer an early signal of how far states are willing to go in redrawing political maps — and which party stands to benefit.