Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears lambasted Virginia Democrats after they signaled a plan to suddenly call the legislature back in a last-minute special session to address potential redistricting before the election.
Virginia’s state redistricting commission is statutorily charged with crafting new congressional maps after every decennial census, but state Democrats appear poised to try to do an end-round around that process, potentially via the constitutional amendment process.
"In a desperate political stunt, Democrats in theVirginia General Assemblyare calling for a special session to drag Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears off the campaign trail," the Earle-Sears campaign said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
NEW POLL IN KEY SHOWDOWN FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR INDICATES SINGLE-DIGIT RACE
As lieutenant governor, Earle-Sears is the presiding officer over the otherwise Democratic-majority state Senate.
"The same politicians who marched in ‘No Kings’ protests are now trying to crown themselves as the rulers of Virginia politics, abusing their offices to rig the calendar because they can’t win on ideas," the campaign said.
Earle-Sears spokesperson Peyton Vogel said the activity is "what panic looks like" for a party that is out of fresh ideas and is relying on such "stunts," and suggested Democratic challengerAbigail Spanberger – a former congresswoman– was in some way involved in the plan.
"[S]he’s leading the charge on cheap political stunts to slow down Winsome Earle-Sears’ momentum. It’s pathetic. Voters see through it. They know Winsome Earle-Sears is a Marine, a mom, and a fighter for Virginia every day — while Abigail Spanberger is a career politician using Washington-style dirty tricks to protect her power and her friends," Vogel said.
EARLE-SEARS COMES OUT SWINGING IN HEATED DEBATE AS SPANBERGER DODGES JAY JONES QUESTIONS
A Suffolk University poll released Thursday showedEarle-Sears trailing Spanbergerby about eight percentage points, while her downballot-mates John Reid and Jason Miyares were either tied or just ahead of their Democratic opponents.
Democrats are hoping to expand their two-seat majority in the House of Delegates, targeting several districts in the suburbs and exurbs of Hampton Roads and Washington, D.C., where Republicans sit on a statistical knife’s edge. No state Senate seats are up until 2027. The upper chamber also has a two-seat Democratic majority.
House Speaker Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, did not respond to requests for comment. However, Surovell told the New York Times that plans to reconvene the legislature in Richmond next week are intended to counter President Donald Trump’s push to pressure Republican-led states on redistricting.
Those states, like Texas, see their efforts as blunting California Democrats’ likely-successful shoehorning of a mid-decade redistricting plan through Sacramento.
VIRGINIA VOTERS SUE TO BOOT DEMOCRAT OFF BALLOT IN DISTRICT THAT COULD DECIDE STATE HOUSE MAJORITY
"We are coming back to address actions by the Trump administration," Surovell told the Times.
On the federal level, Democrats hold six of the 11House seats in Virginia. Some of those held by Republicans are often considered "swing" seats that volley back and forth regularly – like that of Rep. Jennifer Kiggans in Cape Charles and Hampton Roads.
Loudoun County – once reliably Republican – has trended far to the left in the past decade, and there is no longer any Republican congressperson within about 50 miles of Washington.
Rep. Yevgeny "Eugene" Vindman, D-Va., twin brother of Alexander Vindman, holds a once-swing district in Prince William County and the D.C. exurbs that has been another long-term loss for the GOP.
WINSOME EARLE-SEARS REBUKES SPANBERGER PLAN TO UNDO VIRGINIA’S ICE PACT: ‘THIS IS NOT HARD’
By contrast, Rep. Morgan Griffith’s, R-Va., district in the far southwestern end of Virginia is solidly Republican. The way neighboring Rep. Ben Cline’s district is drawn – hugging Interstate 81 and the Blue Ridge Mountains – also remains so.
But Cline’s district could be one targeted by Democrats’ redraw – as slicing up the slender district and the top of Republican John McGuire’s confines and affixing the pieces to the increasingly blue center of the state could create several new seats designed in Democrats’ favor.
Toying with the shapes of other districts like Vindman’s along I-95 and Republican Rep. Rob Wittman in the Northern Neck could also bear fruit for Democrats.
Democrats were the ones to primarily spearhead the original constitutional amendment in 2020 that birthed the commission they now want to circumvent, as it had been introduced by then-Sen. George Barker of Fairfax. Some Republicans were listed as co-signers for the resolution as well.
SPANBERGER DEFENDS ABORTION AD CRITICIZING SEARS AFTER BERNIE WARNS AGAINST HIGHLIGHTING ISSUE
The amendment was later approved by about two-thirds of Virginia voters, according to reports.
If they go the constitutional amendment route, passage before November’s election would count as one session, so Democrats – betting on holding or increasing their numbers in the legislature – would have to pass it once more in the 2026 session before it made the ballot after passage.
Whether Earle-Sears or Spanberger wins, thegovernor is constitutionally precludedfrom intervening in the process.
Working through the regular legislative process would, by contrast, allow a governor to intervene; with the outgoingYoungkin primed to vetotheir initial attempt.
Pennsylvania Republicans led by 2022 gubernatorial nomineeDoug Mastrianoenlisted the same process to circumvent then-Gov. Tom Wolf and end his onerous coronavirus lockdown orders, so the process has seen recent success.
The Virginia amendment would not likely create a new map, but instead authorize a new process to commence redistricting outside of the current system with the decennial commission.
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment on Earle-Sears’ claim.
