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A Private Call Reveals Democrats’ Desperation Over Tossing of Map (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 2 days ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world

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Democrats are struggling to respond to a major redistricting setback in Virginia, with some party leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea for trying to restore a congressional map voided by the court but showing little indication they have a clear plan.

During a private discussion on Saturday that included Democratic House members from Virginia and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, the lawmakers vented anger at their defeat at the Virginia Supreme Court, spoke about a collective determination to flip two or three Republican-held seats under the existing map and discussed a bank-shot proposal to redraw the congressional lines anyway, according to three people who participated in the call and two others who were briefed on it.

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[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The fact that this caught literally anyone in the party by surprise is utterly damning

[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 days ago

Exactly. This stuff started long ago. In 2000 the GOP's scorched-earth tactics became obvious when they sent their rioting staffers in to stop the vote count in Miami-Dade Florida. Roger Stone and Brad Blakeman take credit for managing the riot from a command post.

[–] jontree255@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

I think part of the surprise is that the court already allowed the referendum to proceed. They could have blocked it earlier but decided to change the definition of “election” AFTER the results didn’t go the way they wanted.

[–] Goferking0@ttrpg.network 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Didn't their governor even say flat out? well they just need to vote harder next time

https://www.vpm.org/generalassembly/2026-05-08/scova-redistricting-reactions-miyares-spanberger-kilgore-surovell-scott-trump

Gov. Abigail Spanberger

"More than three million Virginians cast their ballots in Virginia's redistricting referendum, and the majority of Virginia voters voted to push back against a President who said he is 'entitled' to more Republican seats in Congress with a temporary and responsive referendum. They made their voices heard," the governor said. "I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia's ruling, but my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say."

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The thing about this type of gerrymandering is that it can be countered by a large turnout of people voting for the disadvantaged party, because they’re spreading their supporters more thinly in more districts.

That said, the other election suppression measures trump has alluded to and will likely try are a lot harder to counter with such small margins (a county with 40% Trump voters, all of whom are armed and ~~serving as election observers~~ intimidating the other voters, could absolutely swing the election in their favor, for example)

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Sounds like the disadvantaged party should do everything it can to win. Including, perish the thought, candidates that people actually want to vote for.