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>A Private Call Reveals Democrats’ Desperation Over Tossing of Map
Obama throws his support behind Virginia Democrats’ redistricting plan as it heads to voters
Former President Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum in Chicago
Former President Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum in Chicago, Dec. 5, 2024.
(Erin Hooley / Associated Press)
By Meg Kinnard
March 5, 2026 9:53 AM PT
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Former President Obama backs Virginia Democrats’ redistricting plan heading to voters April 21, marking another front in the nationwide gerrymandering battle before midterms.
The proposed map could flip four congressional seats blue if approved, but court challenges threaten to block implementation despite voter support.
Democrats frame the move as responding to Trump-era Republican redistricting, while opponents call it a partisan power grab by northern Virginia liberals.
Former President Obama is promoting a Democratic effort to redraw congressional lines in Virginia, the latest front in a nationwide redistricting battle ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
The announcement Thursday comes a day after the state Supreme Court allowed the redistricting question to go to voters for an April 21 election. Early voting begins Friday.
It’s the second time Obama has agreed to stump for a Democratic effort that asks voters to temporarily set aside an independent redistricting process in favor of partisan maps as a way to counter President Trump’s push for congressional gerrymandering in Republican-controlled states. California voters approved a similar measure last fall as a counterpoint to Republicans’ unusual mid-cycle redistricting that began in Texas.
In a video shared with the Associated Press ahead of its release, Obama asks Virginians to support the voter referendum on the redrawn maps. He said it will make sure “your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states.”
“This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall,” Obama says in the video, released by Virginians for Fair Elections. “And voters will have the final say over what the maps look like.”
In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map aimed at giving their party four more seats. The Democratic-led legislature passed the proposed map, and Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the document into law.
The map goes into effect only if it’s backed by voters and the state Supreme Court.
And, Obama goes on to point out, it’s a temporary construct, as was the measure put before California voters. After the next census in 2030, he notes, “Virginia will go back to a system that lets a bipartisan redistricting commission redraw the maps.”
Court challenges continue
The situation in Virginia has been evolving swiftly, and there are no guarantees the new map will take effect this year even if it’s approved by voters.
Wednesday’s ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court was the second time it has decided that the new map could go before voters while the justices review legal challenges to the effort. The court still has not ruled on whether the mid-decade redistricting plan and voter referendum are legal, indicating that the April vote could be all for nothing if it upholds a lower-court ruling blocking the effort.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have sought to portray their redistricting plan as a response to Trump’s push for Republican states to redraw their maps in an attempt to maintain a GOP majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans describe it as a way for liberals in northern Virginia to commandeer congressional districts in the rest of the state.
Virginia is currently represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan legislative commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.
Obama has made redistricting a priority
Redistricting has evolved into a signature issue for Obama.
He has called attention to the issue since leaving office in 2017 and helped raise money for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. That group is headed by Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general.