Virginia Republicans on Friday cheered Gov. Bob McDonnell’s veto of the redistricting plan approved by the General Assembly, while the Senate’s leading Democrat set the stage for girdlock.
“Gov. McDonnell has wisely decided to reject the Senate Democrats’ redistricting plan,” said Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment, R-James City. “Since its introduction, the Senate Democrat plan has been the focus of nearly universal derision, and for good reason. … Other than the 22 members of the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus, it is impossible to find praise for [the] hyper-partisan redistricting scheme.”
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, also commended the governor for the veto, and encouraged the Senate to consider the redistricting plan recommended by McDonnell’s bipartisan redistricting commission.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s chief Democrat remained defiant. According to the Times-Dispatch:
Saslaw said the bill is constitutional.
“He wasn’t going to sign a bill in which we didn’t surrender to the Republicans,” Saslaw said of the Republican governor.
