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The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected an effort by Virginia Democrats to revive a voter-approved congressional map that party leaders hoped would boost Democratic gains in the 2026 midterm elections.
The court issued a brief order without noted dissents, leaving intact a ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia that found legal problems in the process used to place the redistricting referendum before voters.
The decision effectively ends Democrats’ push to implement the proposed map before this year’s elections.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger acknowledged earlier this week that the deadline to adopt a new congressional map for 2026 had already passed, signaling the legal challenge had become largely symbolic.
The proposed map emerged from broader nationwide redistricting battles fueled by partisan fights over congressional control. Democrats in Virginia had hoped the new district lines could create as many as four additional Democratic-leaning seats in the state’s 11-member congressional delegation.
Virginia’s current map is split 6-5 in favor of Democrats.
The dispute centered on whether the referendum process complied with Virginia state law. Because the issue primarily involved state legal questions, the U.S. Supreme Court faced steep limitations on its authority to intervene.
Still, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones argued that the state court’s decision also implicated federal constitutional issues, giving the nation’s highest court grounds to review the case.
The Supreme Court declined to do so.
The ruling marks another setback for Democrats seeking to counter Republican-led redistricting efforts across multiple states ahead of the midterms. The broader redistricting fight intensified after President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-controlled states, including Texas, to redraw congressional maps in ways that could expand GOP representation in Congress.
While the Virginia case had increasingly appeared unlikely to succeed, Friday’s order formally closes the door on Democrats’ attempt to alter the state’s congressional boundaries before voters head to the polls later this year.
