Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said Thursday the state will hold its 2026 congressional elections under its current 2021 map, even as Democrats wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether to pause a ruling that nullified the state’s voter-approved redistricting referendum.
Spanberger appeared to suggest that election administration deadlines have effectively closed the door on using Democrats’ proposed new map this year.
Speaking to reporters, Spanberger cited the state’s May 12 deadline for map changes and said elections will proceed under the existing districts.
Spanberger called the pending U.S. Supreme Court appeal “important,” but said the practical work of running elections is already moving forward.
“When it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have,” she said.
The comments come as Chief Justice John Roberts weighs Virginia Democrats’ emergency request to pause a 4-3 Virginia Supreme Court ruling that declared the state’s redistricting referendum “null and void.” Roberts gave Republican challengers until Thursday evening to respond to the emergency application.
More than 3 million Virginians voted in the April special election on whether to approve a constitutional amendment allowing the state to redraw its congressional map in response to Republican gerrymanders in other states. A majority approved the referendum, but the Virginia Supreme Court later ruled the process violated state constitutional requirements.
The proposed Democratic map could have produced a 10-1 Democratic advantage in Virginia’s U.S. House delegation. The state’s current map holds a 6 Democratic, 5 Republican delegation.
Spanberger said she was disappointed by the state Supreme Court’s ruling but is now focused on winning under the existing lines.
“What needs to happen is we need to focus on the task at hand, which is winning races in November,” Spanberger said.
She also warned that the court ruling could discourage voters who cast ballots in the referendum only to see the result overturned, saying elected officials must remind Virginians that their votes still matter.
The update marks a major practical setback for Democrats, even if their legal fight continues. With Republican-led states across the South moving quickly to gerrymander maps after the Supreme Court’s Callais decision gutted key Voting Rights Act protections.
Virginia’s voter-approved map had been Democrats’ clearest chance to counter with a new map of their own in 2026.
