All political eyes will be on Virginia, Tuesday, as voters go to the polls to decide a referendum backed by Democrats that would allow state lawmakers to redraw the state's 11 U.S. House districts — a change that could significantly benefit Democrats and potentially affect control of the House this fall.

Should the plan crafted by Democrat state legislators become law, the present lineup of six Democrats and five Republicans in Virginia's U.S. House delegation would almost surely be 10 Democrats and one Republican.

According to polls, opponents of the measure have been gaining ground but are still trailing. A recently completed State Navigate poll among likely voters showed roughly 51% saying "yes" to the plan and 45% saying "no."

For their part, Republicans in the Old Dominion state are growing optimistic about the outcome. But at a time when an increasing number of Virginians make their decisions through early voting, they are still shy of voicing confidence.

Last year, nearly 1.5 million Virginians voted early or absentee, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

Former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., spoke for many of them when he told Newsmax: "It is close. Conventional wisdom has us losing by 4 percentage points.

"I think we will do better than that. So I'm hopeful — but not optimistic — we can win it."

Over the weekend, Republican heavyweights ranging from former Gov. Glenn Youngkin to House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigned hard for a "no" vote.

A "No" campaign organization led by former state Attorney General Jason Miyares is planning on a massive campaign operation to turn out voters on Tuesday based on the assumption that more Republicans vote at the polls on Election Day than vote by mail early.

Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger was initially a vocal proponent of the "Yes" movement. But given her recent, very modest poll ratings, she is no longer featured in "Yes" TV spots.

Running as a centrist Democrat, she won the governorship convincingly last fall, but her calls for higher taxes have caused Spanberger a significant loss of popularity. The same State Navigate poll showed Virginians split evenly on her performance: 47% approving and 47% disapproving. 

Much of the national attention on Virginia comes from a much-run TV spot featuring former President Barack Obama calling on voters to support the measure.

Last week, however, the GOP counterattack unleashed an ad with Obama himself denouncing gerrymandering — the drawing of districts to benefit one political party over another.

Asked Monday how he calls the referendum, Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, told Newsmax: "It'll be close, but it passes."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.