The Supreme Court of Virginia disrupted state Republican plans for redistricting on Friday, disqualifying one GOP nominee to draw new maps and cast doubt on two others.
The court said Thomas Bryan, who had been previously hired as a consultant by Virginia Republicans, was disqualified from serving as a special master over the redistricting process due to a conflict of interest.
SENATE REDISTRICTING MAP CLEARS GEORGIA COMMITTEE
“Upon a review of the Republican submissions, the Court also has concerns about the ability of the remaining Republican nominees to serve in the role of Special Master as described in this Order,” the court said in a statement.
The court did this unanimously and also requested that Republican legislators send three or more nominees by Nov. 15. The court’s order was a response to a request from Virginia’s Democratic Senate majority leader for the court to toss out the Republican nominees, citing conflicts of interest. The majority leader said in his letter that Bryan was paid a $20,000 consulting fee by Virginia Senate Republicans in September, the Washington Post reported.
The court did not specify its concerns with the other two nominees. These two — Adam Kincaid and Adam Foltz — previously worked with other Republican groups outside of Virginia. Kincaid is the executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, and Foltz has worked on Republican redistricting efforts in Texas and Wisconsin.
The court also disqualified one Democratic nominee, but it is unclear which one and for what reason, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
The court also ordered Democratic legislators to send one or more nominees to the court by Nov. 15.
The three nominees the Democrats sent the court include: Bernard Grofman, who served as a special master in Virginia in 2015, Nathaniel Persily, who served as a special master in other states, and Bruce Cain, who served as a special master in Arizona in 2015.
In the 2020 election, Virginia voters supported a constitutional amendment that established a bipartisan redistricting commission. The commission failed to reach an agreement that could pass the state’s General Assembly, and now, the state’s Supreme Court is tasked with drawing the map, as required by the amendment.
The way a district is drawn can have a major effect on which political party can win that district. For example, Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger recently announced he will not seek reelection after redistricted maps in Illinois were going to give Democrats a major advantage in his district.
The court is looking for assistance in drawing the maps and has asked leadership from both parties to offer nominees to serve as a “special master.” The court will appoint two, one nominated by Republicans and one nominated by Democrats, according to the Washington Post.
Due to delays in the census data caused by the coronavirus pandemic, states across the country are still going through redistricting processes. The outcome of how these districts across the country are drawn will have a significant effect on the 2022 congressional midterm elections and political races across the country over the next decade.
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Republicans had a string of political victories in Virginia during the 2021 off-year elections, including with Glenn Youngkin’s win in the governor’s race, which came a year after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Virginia by a margin of over 10 points.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the top Republicans in the Virginia Legislature for comment.
