House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Democrats are ready to spend 'tens of millions' to support a Virginia redistricting amendment that could produce up to four additional House seats. Virginia Democrats currently hold six of the state's 11 districts and plan a spring ballot measure to redraw lines ahead of the midterms. Jeffries framed the effort as part of a nationwide redistricting clash following GOP mid-decade maps in Texas, and he urged Maryland's Senate president to allow an up-or-down vote on a Democratic plan.
Jeffries: Democrats Will Spend Tens Of Millions To Reshape Virginia Maps, Could Gain Up To Four House Seats
Jeffries: Democrats willing to spend big to reshape Virginia congressional districts
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told CNN that Democrats are prepared to invest heavily in a Virginia redistricting campaign that could yield as many as four additional U.S. House seats for the party ahead of the fall midterms.
'Whatever it takes,' Jeffries said in an interview with CNN's Manu Raju when asked how much the party would spend on the effort. 'We will spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure that the Republicans do not successfully manipulate voters in Virginia, and that voters have all of the information necessary to make a decision around whether they want Donald Trump to rig the midterm elections and halt the ability for the American people to decide who is in the majority, or whether the people of Virginia and the people of America should be the ones to decide.'
Currently, Democrats hold six of Virginia's 11 congressional seats. Party leaders plan to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot this spring that would alter the redistricting process and, if approved, could create up to four pickup opportunities in the fall elections.
National Redistricting Context
Jeffries framed Virginia as the latest battleground in a broader national contest over congressional maps. The dispute has intensified after mid-decade, GOP-favored redistricting in Texas. Democrats in California pursued counter-redraws, and several other states have seen or expect changes: North Carolina, Missouri and Ohio enacted new maps, litigation produced a revised map in Utah, and Florida is poised for a special redistricting session this spring that could benefit Republicans.
Maryland Standoff
Jeffries also criticized Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson for not bringing a Democratic-backed redistricting proposal to a vote in the state Senate. The Maryland House advanced a plan that Democrats say would increase their representation, but the measure has stalled in the Senate.
'We know we have majority support right now, as we speak, in the Maryland state Senate. And all we're asking President Ferguson to do is allow democracy to prevail. What that means is an up-or-down vote. One man shouldn't stand in the way of the people of Maryland, through their representatives in the state Senate, being able to decide: should we go in this direction?' Jeffries said.
Jeffries added that he would seek a conversation with Ferguson if the impasse continues and expressed hope the Senate president would change his mind in the coming days. The stakes, he said, are ensuring that voters — not partisan mapmakers — determine who controls the House.
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