House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) vowed to back the ballot initiative on Virginia’s redistricting plan, saying voters will have “all of the information necessary” before the vote on April 21.
The Virginia Supreme Court gave the go-ahead on Friday for a statewide vote that could allow the Democratic state legislature to redraw the state’s congressional map mid-decade. If approved, the new map could allow the Democratic Party to gain four new Democratic House seats, shifting Virginia’s current delegation from six Democrats to as many as 10 out of 11 seats.
Virginia is one of several states seeking to redistrict to help either party enter the 2026 elections. Jeffries said the Democratic Party will do “whatever it takes” when asked how much money would be invested in this ballot initiative.
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“We will spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure that the Republicans do not successfully manipulate voters in Virginia, and that voters have all of the information necessary to make a decision around whether they want Donald Trump to rig the midterm elections and halt the ability for the American people to decide who‘s in the majority, or whether the people of Virginia and the people of America should be the ones to decide,” Jeffries said on CNN’s Inside Politics with Manu Raju.
Jeffries downplayed concerns about the Republican National Committee out-raising the Democratic National Committee by the end of 2025, saying it is “not surprising” given the Republican Party is in the White House.
Maryland is another state seeking to redraw its map, and Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) is pushing the state Senate to vote on this. However, Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson is not bringing this redistricting plan up for a vote.
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Jeffries contended that Ferguson would be “successful” in his opposition, and praised the Maryland governor as “incredibly strong, resilient, patriotic, and visionary on this issue.”
Meanwhile, California is also planning its own redistricting. The Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition from the California GOP to block the state’s use of a new congressional map this November earlier in February.