In October 2025, Virginia lawmakers began considering a constitutional amendment to re-grant the legislature the power to draw congressional districts. The redistricting push followed Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina's attempts to gerrymander their congressional districts. [1]
In 2025, Texas lawmakers adopted a new congressional map, which is expected to grant Republicans five additional congressional seats. [2] Other states followed suit with their own redistricting plans.
On October 23, 2025, The New York Times reported that Virginia was planning a constitutional amendment to allow for redistricting. [3]
On October 24, House Majority Leader Charniele Herring introduced a resolution that would allow the Virginia General Assembly to consider constitutional amendments related to redistricting during a special election. [4] On October 27, the resolution was agreed to by the House of Delegates in a 50 to 42 vote, and on October 29, the state Senate agreed to it in a 21 to 17 vote. [5]
On October 28, four Democratic Virginia Delegates introduced the constitutional amendment. [6] On the same day, Jason Miyares, the Attorney General of Virginia who is also running for a second term, issued an opinion saying that the process required to add a constitutional amendment to the ballot cannot be shortened by the General Assembly calling a special session during an ongoing election. [7]
On October 29, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the amendment in a 51 to 42 vote on party lines. Before the vote took place, there was contentious debate, and the Sergeant-at-Arms was called to the floor at one point. The bill then moved on the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, which approved the bill in an 8 to 6 vote the same day. [8]
In Tazewell County, a lawsuit was filed in Tazewell County General District Court against the House and Senate clerks, seeking an injunction against the effort. The lawsuit argued that the purpose of the special session was to settle a budget dispute in 2024, and although the session was still technically open, the new bill was outside of the scope of the session, making it invalid. Delegate Terry Kilgore, state Senators Bill Stanley and Ryan McDougle, and a citizen member of the commonwealth's bipartisan redistricting commission were named as plaintiffs. The lawsuit was delayed. [9]
The draft amendment seeks to amend the constitution to read: [8]
ARTICLE II
FRANCHISE AND OFFICERS
Section 6. Apportionment.
Members of the House of Representatives of the United States and members of the Senate and of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly shall be elected from electoral districts established pursuant to this section and Section 6-A of this Constitution. Every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory and shall be so constituted as to give, as nearly as is practicable, representation in proportion to the population of the district. Every electoral district shall be drawn in accordance with the requirements of federal and state laws that address racial and ethnic fairness, including the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and judicial decisions interpreting such laws. Districts shall provide, where practicable, opportunities for racial and ethnic communities to elect candidates of their choice. The Commonwealth shall be reapportioned into electoral districts in accordance with this section and Section 6-A in the year 2021 and every ten years thereafter, except that the General Assembly shall beauthorized to modify one or more congressional districts at any point following the adoption of a decennial reapportionment law, but prior to the next decennial census, in the event that any State of the United States of America conducts a redistricting of such state's congressional districts at any point following that state's adoption of a decennial reapportionment law for any purpose other than (i) the completion of the state's decennial redistricting in response to a federal census and reapportionment mandated by the Constitution of the United States and established in federal law or (ii) as ordered by any state or federal court to remedy an unlawful or unconstitutional district map. Any such decennial reapportionment law, or reapportionment law modifying one or more congressionaldistricts, shall take effect immediately and not be subject to the limitations contained in Article IV, Section 13, of this Constitution. The districts delineated in the decennialany reapportionment law shall be implemented for the November general election for the United States House of Representatives, Senate, or House of Delegates, respectively, that is held immediately prior to the expiration of the term being served in the year that the reapportionment law is required to be enacted. A member in office at the time that a decennial redistricting law is enacted shall complete his term of office and shall continue to represent the district from which he was elected for the duration of such term of office so long as he does not move his residence from the district from which he was elected. Any vacancy occurring during such term shall be filled from the same district that elected the member whose vacancy is being filled.
SCHEDULE
Section 6. Application and duration of certain redistricting amendments.
The authorization in Article II, Section 6 authorizing the General Assembly to modify one or morecongressional districts at any point following adoption of a decennial reapportionment law in the event that any State of the United States of America conducts a redistricting of such state's congressional districts at any point following that state's adoption of a decennial reapportionment law shall be limited to making such modifications between January 1, 2025, and October 31, 2030, in response to actions taken by another state between January 1, 2025, and October 31, 2030.