Virginia Democratic Party Does Redistricting Commission’s Job and Releases Fair, Equitable Congressional Map

From DPVA:

Virginia Democratic Party Does Redistricting Commission’s Job and Releases Fair, Equitable Congressional Map

Richmond, VA — Today, the Democratic Party of Virginia did the Virginia Redistricting Commission’s job and released an equitable, fair congressional map that represents current Democratic trends of the Commonwealth, keeps communities of interest together and prioritizes the voices of voters of color in Virginia’s elections.

The map put forth by the Virginia Redistricting Commission’s map makers disenfranchises communities of color and does not accurately reflect the Commonwealth’s increasingly Democratic trend, which is underscored by the success of Democratic candidates at every level of government. Democrats in Virginia have not lost a statewide election since 2009, including a recent 10 point win by President Joe Biden.

“The people who put this map together should be ashamed of themselves. The map is pathetic—it’s a disgrace, a waste of taxpayer dollars and time, and it isn’t worth the paper and software it’s on,” DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker said. “This map intentionally disenfranchises communities of color and all Virginians should be appalled and disgusted that this map was even presented to the Commission. The submitted DPVA map is more than fair and gives a voice and vote to the historically underrepresented Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. I am calling on the Commission to do its dang job and put forward a map that is inclusive and fairly reflects the current Democratic trend of how Virginians are voting.”

The DPVA map can be found here.

This map respects important communities of interest, and Virginia Democrats are calling for a final map that does the same. Specifically, Virginia Democrats expect a final map to adhere to the following parameters: 

• Protects the large Black populations in southeastern Virginia from packing by keeping CD-03 and CD-04 similar to the current, recently court-drawn configurations.
• Does not pack or crack the large Asian American Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino communities in Northern Virginia, especially in Fairfax County and Prince William County.
• Eliminates the existing CD-05 gerrymander by making it a compact district between CD-06 and CD-09, including the Southern Piedmont region, in the southern and central portions of the state. This would allow the current CD-07 to include Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Charlottesville and Albemarle County, which consist of more suburban communities surrounding the University of Virginia, have more in common with the western Greater Richmond area than the rural mountainous region in the current CD-05.
• Keeps the military community in Norfolk together by anchoring CD-02 in the City of Norfolk. The City of Norfolk has a high concentration of veterans and active-duty military, and this military community should be kept whole. CD-02 could pick up Virginia Beach City and Chesapeake City while losing James City and Williamsburg, which would allow the district to be based around Norfolk while keeping the areas south of the HRBT together as a community of interest.

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