The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that voters will be able to cast ballots on the state's congressional redistricting plan, a major win for Democrats as they attempt to retake the U.S. House.
The court ruled that a statewide referendum can be held April 21 on whether to authorize middecade redistricting. It will decide later whether the plan itself is legal.
Under a proposed new map, Democrats could hold up to 10 seats in the state's congressional delegation, a net gain of four seats.
President Donald Trump "knows he's going to lose the midterms. He knows it. That's why he's started this mess in the first place," L. Louise Lucas, a top Democrat in the Virginia Senate, said last week when she unveiled the new maps.
"We said 10-1, and we meant it," Lucas added.
Virginia's congressional delegation is currently split, with six Democrats and five Republicans.
Democrats appeared to have suffered a setback when a Virginia judge ruled that the proposed constitutional amendment letting Democrats redraw the state's congressional maps was illegal.
Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the Virginia General Assembly's actions on three grounds, including finding that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session.
His order also said Democrats failed to approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year's general election and failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law.
As a result, he said, the amendment was invalid and void.
Democrats appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court.
The court directed initial briefs to be filed by March 23, with the last round of court filings due April 23. Any oral arguments would be scheduled later, the court said.
Republicans in the state have blasted Democrats' attempts at redistricting.
"What they really mean is 'We are proud to deliver an illegal map that the court told us we can't draw, that delivers for Democrats, not Virginians,'" former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, posted on X.
Redistricting typically occurs at the start of each decade to incorporate new census data.
Last summer, Texas redrew its congressional maps in a bid to help Republicans pick up five seats in Congress to preserve their razor-thin majority in the House.
California voters approved a new congressional map that could give Democrats five more seats.
States such as North Carolina and Ohio have also redrawn their maps to boost Republicans in Congress, while redistricting efforts stalled in Kansas and Indiana.
Maryland is also considering redrawing its maps to give Democrats one more seat in Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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