Virginia Democrats handed Abigail Spanberger the governorship – and the first bill she signed was the one she swore she would never sign.
Now Virginians are voting today on a map that would give Democrats a 10-to-1 edge in a state that's split almost evenly between the parties.
If it passes, 56 Virginia counties will wake up tomorrow with no real voice in Congress.
The Promise That Vanished in August 2025
Spanberger looked Virginia voters in the eye and promised she would not gerrymander the state.
That was August 2025.
By the time she was inaugurated, that promise was in the trash.
The very first bill she signed redrew Virginia's congressional map in a way that even The Washington Post – not exactly a friend to conservatives – called "brazenly dishonest."
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares didn't hold back on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning.
"She's the least popular governor in the entire history of modern Virginia politics," he said. "And this is why."
Down in the 9th District – the coal country and farming communities of southwest Virginia – Rep. Morgan Griffith's constituents are watching this play out in real time.
Griffith is already planning a legal challenge targeting the ballot language, the structure of the special election, and the maps themselves.
"These maps are horrible," he said. "They do not work for good government or good representation."
That's a congressman telling his own voters their representation is being engineered out of existence.
What the Map Actually Does
Virginia has 11 congressional seats. Democrats currently hold six.
Under the new map, they would hold ten.
Griffith's 9th District would be the lone Republican seat – and the map then pits him against fellow Republican Ben Cline in a primary.
The rest of the Republican delegation – Rob Wittman, Jen Kiggans, John McGuire, and Cline – would be effectively gone.
Here's what makes this indefensible: Virginia's voter registration is 51% Democrat, 30% Republican, and 18% independent.
A 10-to-1 map in a 51-30 state is not representation. It is elimination.
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Cline described the real goal plainly on the Ruthless Podcast last week.
"Their goal is the long game," he said. "You either assimilate or you're destroyed."
That's exactly what happened to Massachusetts.
It now sends a 9-to-0 Democratic delegation to Congress – while Republicans still make up roughly 40% of its voters.
Virginia is next.
Trump Called It What It Is
President Trump joined a telerally call with House Speaker Mike Johnson Monday night and named it directly.
"This referendum is a blatant partisan power grab that nobody's really ever seen anything like it," Trump said.
Johnson put the stakes in concrete terms.
Five Virginia Republicans – Wittman, Kiggans, McGuire, Cline, and Griffith – are fighting every day to lower costs, secure the border, and keep Virginia's voice in Washington.
This map eliminates four of them.
"We need to return all five of them to Congress this November," Johnson said.
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What makes this particularly brazen is the ballot question itself.
Virginians aren't being asked whether they want Democrats to seize the delegation.
They're being asked whether they want to "restore fairness in upcoming elections."
Restore fairness. For a 10-to-1 map.
In 2020, Virginia voters approved an independent redistricting commission by a 30-point landslide.
Both parties looked at the map-drawing games and said: enough.
Democrats waited until they had the governorship, then bypassed the entire thing.
Miyares put a number on what's at stake.
If this passes, 56 counties in Virginia will have no meaningful voice in Congress.
"That's wrong. That's not fair. That's not democracy," he said. "Virginians need to go vote now, today."
Spanberger made a promise in August 2025. The first bill she signed proved it meant nothing.
Rural Virginia – the counties that grow the food, run the small businesses, and send kids to serve – is being drawn out of existence by a map drafted in Richmond for a party that does not represent them.
Virginians have until tonight to stop it.
Sources:
- Eric Mack, "Trump urges Virginia voters to reject 'blatant partisan power grab' by Democrats," Fox News, April 21, 2026.
- "Spanberger once blasted gerrymandering and now backs amendment critics say could erase Virginia GOP," Fox News, April 21, 2026.
- "GOP-led counties push back against Democrat's redistricting charge, testing Virginia's constitutional limits," Fox News, April 21, 2026.
- "JD Vance calls on Republicans to take 'decisive action' to counter Democratic gerrymandering," Fox News, April 21, 2026.
