Supreme Court: Virginia House Lacks Authority to Defend Gerrymandering

Virginia Democrats’ hopes of taking over control of the state House in November received a boost Monday, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on redistricting.

Last year, a federal district court ruled that 11 districts in the House map drawn in 2011 amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, packing African-Americans into a limited number of districts and making neighboring districts whiter and more Republican.

The court itself drew up a new map, which includes several districts considered more favorable to Democrats than the old map. In elections held using the old map in 2017, Democrats gained 15 seats, falling one seat short of achieving a tie and two seats short of winning the majority. In 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton carried 51 of the 100 House districts under the old map; under the new map, she would have carried 56.

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