A House committee on Monday tweaked its plan to re-draw the state’s 100 House of Delegates districts after Gov. Bob McDonnell vetoed the General Assembly’s proposed new state lines last week.
The House’s new plan puts some divided precincts back in the same districts in Norfolk and Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield and Henrico.
“I look forward to the governor and senators resolving their differences that led to last week’s veto so we call can come together and complete this important redistricting exercise as soon as possible,” said House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford.
The House and Senate plans would add one Senate seat and three House seats to Northern Virginia to accommodate population shifts over the past decade — but were also crafted by the majority parties in each house with an eye on protecting their incumbents.
In vetoing the bill, which rolled the House and Senate lines into one piece of legislation, McDonnell cited concerns that the Senate’s plan may not pass legal muster, while also encouraging the Republican-led House of Delegates to “pursue opprtunities that will strengthen its plan.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have insisted that their map meets all federal and state legal requirements, and that McDonnell was just playing politics.
Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, told the Post Monday that he plans to pass a similar plan that was the basis for the veto.
A standoff between the two parties could throw the once-a-decade process into turmoil. Virginia is one of a handful of mostly southern states that must pre-clear its redistricting plans with the U.S. Department of Justice because of its history of racial discrimination. A potential stalemate could disrupt the fall’s election season, invite court action or provide additional fodder for potential litigation.
