A majority of Virginians oppose Democrats’ efforts to rig the state’s redistricting process in the name of “fairness” - then change it back to the original system they claimed was unfair - results of a new Roanoke College Poll released Monday show.
The Democrats’ April 21, 2026 special-election ballot measure – which Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger rejected during her campaign but supports now that she’s in office – would reportedly turn Democrats’ congressional district advantage from 6-5 currently to 10-1.
If the amendment to the state constitution is passed, the 46.05% of Virginians who voted for Republican candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election would be grossly underrepresented. What’s more, Republicans wouldn’t be able to restore balance by employing the same method Democrats used to give themselves the distorted advantage.
In the poll, conducted February 9-16 by Roanoke College’s Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR), 52% of Virginia residents said they want to keep the current system of redistricting, eight points more than the 44% who said they support the change. Another 4% said they “don’t know” or refused to answer the question.
But, despite their opposition, enough voters could be tricked into voting for the ballot measure, due to its misleading “Democrat-inspired” wording, IPOR Interim Director Dr. Harry Wilson warns:
“On the redistricting issue that seems to be headed to a referendum, Virginians generally prefer the current system.
“Still, given the partisan ramifications and the Democratic-inspired wording of the question ‘to restore fairness’ to elections, this may not be indicative of the outcome.”
Indeed, the text of ballot question declares the current process “unfair,” but only until Democrats in power redistrict Virginia’s map overwhelmingly in their favor (emphasis added):
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
On Thursday, Virginia Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley cited Democrats’ manipulative wording as one of several reasons for granting Republicans’ emergency motion for a temporary restraining order pending the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.
The language likely violates the Submission Clause of the state’s constitution “because it is misleading, in particular the ‘restore fairness’ language because it would lead a voter to believe he or she was doing something unfair by voting against the proposed amendment,” Judge Hurley writes.
Additionally, “the Court finds that Plaintiffs have and extraordinarily high likelihood on the success on the merits” of their claims, Judge Hurley writes.
“Plaintiffs will be irreparably harmed absent injunctive relief because of the numerous violations of the constitutional amendment process and because Congressmen Cline and Griffith would be irreparably harmed by their districts changing at this juncture,” the judge notes.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called Democrats’ redistricting ploy “A brazen abuse of power & and an insult to Democracy” earlier this month after Gov. Spanberger signed the redistricting plan put on the ballot.
Democrat Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas replied to Sen. Cruz with vulgarity:
“You all started it and we f**king finished it.”
In a broader question regarding Virginia’s current process, in which congressional district maps are drawn and approved by both the General Assembly and Virginia citizens every 10 years, the Roanoke College Poll found even greater support for the current system.
Fully 62% of Virginians said they support the current method of redistricting – more than twice the 30% who oppose it. Eight percent either didn’t answer or didn’t know what they thought.
