On a 22-18 party-line vote, the Virginia Senate signed off on a redistricting plan Thursday that would add one Senate seat and three House of Delegates seats to Northern Virginia.
The Senate attached a GOP-authored House of Delegates plan to the measure approved Thursday.
Republicans objected to the Senate plan, though, arguing that their option offered split fewer cities and towns than the Democratic proposal.
“Many of the districts are meandering,” Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, said of the Democrats’ plan.
In Northern Virginia, for example, the new 31st Senate district would stretch from Arlington County through Fairfax all the way out to Loudoun.
Democrats, though, defended their map, saying that it would pass legal muster and did have bipartisan input, despite the party-line vote.
“I’ve gone to people in both parties,” said Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. “Obviously we can’t make 100 percent of the people happy.”
The House and Senate both adjourned until Monday; the House still has to approve the Senate plan, and both chambers need to tackle congressional redistricting as well.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said his administration has been reviewing draft plans since last week, and that he will now begin a formal review of the legislation.
