Gov. Abigail Spanberger‘s (D-VA) redistricting push could wipe out multiple House Republicans and dramatically reshape Virginia’s congressional delegation, turning a narrow 6–5 Democratic edge into a 10–1 Democratic lock.
Voters will decide the measure in a special election on April 21. If approved, it would allow Democrats to bypass Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission and redraw its 11 congressional districts mid-decade. The new map, which has already been passed by the Democratic-run state legislature and signed by Spanberger, would lump rural conservative parts of the state with heavily liberal Northern Virginia.
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Spanberger and national Democrats frame the push as a direct response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in states such as Texas, casting the referendum as a chance for Virginians to push back against what they describe as an emerging GOP power grab.
Republicans, however, say the referendum is a brazen power grab that will disenfranchise GOP voters in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won by only 5 percentage points in 2024. They note that under the proposed new map, heavily Democratic Fairfax County, which has just over one-eighth of Virginia’s population, would be a major population center for five new congressional districts.
“The new map is crazy and what it does is take northern Virginia and inject it into the entire state,” said former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Here are the House Republicans at risk of being wiped out if the referendum passes:
Rep. Rob Wittman
Rep. Rob Wittman has represented Virginia’s 1st Congressional District since 2007. The district includes early colonial settlements such as Williamsburg and Jamestown, as well as the suburbs of Richmond. In 2024, the district narrowly voted for President Donald Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris by 5 percentage points.
Under the proposed gerrymander, Wittman’s district would be split in two, with both seats being linked to more blue portions of Fairfax and Arlington counties. The new 1st District would have voted for Harris over Trump by 7 percentage points in 2024, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. The constituents of the new 8th Congressional District, which would include Williamsburg and many coastal communities currently represented by Wittman, would have voted for Harris by 17 percentage points over Trump in 2024.
Wittman, who is a strong fundraiser, would likely be an underdog in either seat. Before the referendum, Wittman was seen as a likely contender for the top GOP spot on the House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Jen Kiggans
Rep. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy pilot and nurse, was first elected in 2022 to represent Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. The seat, anchored around Virginia Beach and the state’s eastern shore, narrowly voted for Trump by 0.2% over Harris in 2024.
Under the new map, the district would take in more urban areas around Norfolk. Harris would have won the new seat by 4 percentage points over Trump.
Rep. John McGuire
Rep. John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL, was elected to represent Virginia’s 5th Congressional District in 2024. The seat includes Richmond’s western suburbs and a big chunk of the Virginia-North Carolina border, as well as the cities of Charlottesville and Lynchburg.
Trump won the current 5th Congressional District by 5 percentage points over Harris in 2024. Under the new map, the district would be split between three other seats. The new 5th District, composed of Richmond’s western suburbs, would have voted for Harris by 9 percentage points in 2024.
Rep. Ben Cline
Rep. Ben Cline was first elected to represent the Shenandoah Valley-based 6th Congressional District in 2018. The Republican is Virginia’s only member of Congress on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending.
VIRGINIA COULD LOSE INFLUENCE IN CONGRESS IF SPANBERGER’S GERRYMANDER PASSES
Under the current, the 6th District spans from Roanoke to Winchester, near Virginia’s northern border with West Virginia and Maryland. The seat voted for Trump by 24 percentage points in 2024.
If the referendum passes, the 6th District would be split between five other districts, including three that include parts of deep-blue Fairfax County. The new sixth district Roanoke would be paired with Charlottesville and Lynchburg, creating a seat that Harris would have won by three percentage points in 2024.
