On May 8, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Democrat attempt to gerrymander the Commonwealth’s congressional districts in their party’s favor. Since that time, Democrats on the state level seem unable to accept the fact that they lost and that our Constitution and the rule of law prevailed. After the court’s decision invalidated the referendum on gerrymandering, Democrats continue to spend time, money, and energy looking at any possible way to undo it. Their new plan is to gut the Virginia Supreme Court and end the bipartisan redistricting commission.
The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Democrats’ gerrymandering referendum rests on what constitutes an “election.” Democrats argued before the Supreme Court that the “election” was actually what happened at 7 p.m. on Election Day, and that everything that took place before then (including early voting) was not part of “an election.” The Supreme Court held that elections start when people begin voting and they end when the ballots are counted. It is as simple as that.
More than one million Virginians had already voted when Democrats met to ram their gerrymandering amendment through the General Assembly in 2025. That guts the entire purpose of the “intervening election” rule in our constitution. Now, Attorney General Jay Jones – the individual infamous for texting and fantasizing about killing former Speaker Todd Gilbert – is arguing that the Supreme Court’s ruling ignores the will of the people. Senator Tim Kaine said that the Supreme Court should have stopped the referendum if it was going to invalidate the amendment. But Democrats specifically sought that outcome. When Republicans asked the court to stop the vote, the justices sided with Democrats – noting past cases in which the vote was allowed to proceed and then judged afterward.
Democrats have now appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and they are considering going even further. As reported by the New York Times, Virginia Democrats are moving to gut the Virginia Supreme Court by lowering the mandatory retirement age to 54, which would force out all seven justices now on the court. Democrats could then replace those justices with more amendable liberal ones, who would then vacate the original redistricting amendment and allow the Democrats to do whatever they want. Doing so would eliminate the independence of Virginia courts for a generation or more and would set a very dangerous precedent for Virginia.
All of this is occurring at the same time that Democrats have failed to produce a budget. It just proves that their priority is power, not responsibly administering the core functions of government. Every Democrat in the General Assembly has a responsibility to squash this totalitarian idea before it takes hold, regardless of what their base thinks. Every day that passes with no denunciation by Virginia Democrats is an indictment of just how far they will go to keep themselves in power.
As the Delegate representing the 42nd House District in the Virginia General Assembly, your concerns are my greatest priority. If ever I may be of assistance to you and your family, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at DelJBallard@House.Virginia.Gov. You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBallardVA or like my Facebook page, Jason Ballard for Delegate, to keep up to date with what I am doing in Richmond and in our community on your behalf.
