I & I Editorial BoardCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom must be kicking himself after what Democrats just managed to pull off in Virginia.
Not too long ago, Newsom was bragging about a referendum that “suspended” a constitutional amendment so Democrats could gerrymander five Republican districts out of existence.
But that still leaves four California seats that will likely be occupied by Republicans after the midterms.
And this is in a state that hasn’t seen a Republican governor in 15 years, a Republican senator in 34 years, where Democrats have a supermajority in the legislature, and the state that Kamala Harris won by a margin of 58% to 38%.
The referendum in Virginia, in contrast, will redraw its district boundaries in such a way as to leave just one Republican out of 11 representing the state, where today there are five.
And yet Virginia is hardly as deep blue as California. After all, it elected a Republican governor in 2021 (by a 51-49 margin), had two Republican senators as recently as 2007, and is a state where Harris got less than 52% of the vote to Trump’s 46%.
But through massive party spending, a deceptively written ballot initiative, and, who knows, maybe some election fraud, Virginia did what Newsom could only dream of doing.
Virginia Democrats say that this is just an effort to block President Donald Trump’s agenda. But Trump will be out of office in 2029, while the gerrymandered districts will, if the scheme survives legal challenges, be in place until at least after the 2030 Census. This is a power grab, pure and simple, and it won’t be their last.
It makes us wonder what other plans Democrats have to turn Virginia into California East, now that they are in control and appear determined to keep it that way.
Alleged moderate Gov. Abigail Spanberger has already made Virginia a sanctuary state for illegal aliens. And Democratic lawmakers have introduced 50 measures to raise taxes, including a new 10% top marginal rate, which would place it behind only four other states (California’s is 13.3%), and would put Virginia in the No. 1 spot for the highest marginal rate on investment income.
Maybe Virginia Democrats will decide to build a bullet train that ends up years behind schedule and billions over budget, and that, if it ever gets finished, will manage only to connect Lynchburg to Charlottesville.
They could also do more to wreck their schools, fill their sidewalks with the homeless, ruin their cities, make the state unaffordable for middle-class families, and drive businesses out of the state.
Sure, California is ahead of Virginia in those categories. But Old Dominion Democrats seem intent on following the Golden State into the abyss.
— Written by the I&I Editorial Board
Another dishonest article by I&I, which completely omits the fact that Trump started the mid-term redistricting by pressuring Texas into doing it, followed by Missouri and North Carolina. Indiana had enough integrity to resist Trump’s pressure. Democrats responded in kind, making their changes temporary.
But Republicans did it without letting the people decide. California and Virginia did let the people decide, through referenda.
Your framing leaves out important context. Mid-decade redistricting isn’t new and has been used by both parties when politically advantageous. States like Texas acted through their legislatures, which is the standard legal process, not uniquely “bypassing voters.” Those Dem-led states still use legislatures, while others follow voter-approved systems—so the divide isn’t as clear-cut.
Sure looks like it’s time for West Virginia to annex a significant portion the former commonwealth to the east.
A judge just blocked Virginia from certifying the results of the redistricting referendum, saying “the process underlying the referendum broke several state laws and that certifying the vote would harm” Republican lawmakers in the state. The judge has put the whole mess on hold and wrote that ruling that all votes cast in the election are “ineffective.”
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/virginia-redistricting-referendum-update-april-22-2026
The Virginia move is indeed a power grab, but it’s also a naked attempt to disenfranchise voters who support the “wrong” party. More and more, the behavior of the left is mirroring the policies of Soviet Russia – power politics for the sake of power (and it’s becoming increasingly bipartisan, though strongly driven by democrats).
But you’re fine with the Republicans doing it? They started it.
Absolutely BS.
Dems started it 30 years ago, look at MA, CT, IL, CA, NY etc. Dems just worried because they never see power after this ruling, elimination of illegals in census #s, elimination of birthright citizenship for illegals, and the Blue Uhaul exodus.