That’s Right, the Virginia Redistricting Amendment Resulted in Republican and Democratic Consultants Drawing Dueling Versions of Maps, with Big Partisan Differences

Last year, as you cast your vote on Amendment 1, perhaps you thought you were voting for “nonpartisan redistricting,” but that most definitely was NOT the case. In fact, the Virginia Redistricting Commission is a body comprised of Republican politicians, Democratic politicians, and citizens *selected by those Republican and Democratic politicians.” It also consists, absurdly, of two sets (Democratic and Republican) of partisan lawyers and two sets (Democratic and Republican) map drawers.

So right now, we’re in the middle of an absurd exercise, in which Republican map drawers and Democratic map drawers each draw their maps, and then, somehow, they’ll have to be reconciled, and then…who knows what their fate will be (as VPAP explains: “Once the two consultants craft new legislative districts for the entire state, the Redistricting Commission must reconcile the two plans into a single map. If the Commission is unable to meet its October 10 deadline or cannot muster the super-majority needed to approve a plan, the task of drawing the maps will fall to the Supreme Court of Virginia.“)

Anyway, at this point (per VPAP), here’s where things stand in the *very much partisan* map drawing process: in short, ” The maps drawn by the Democratic consultant carve out more blue districts, while the maps created by the GOP consultant create more red ones.”

• For the House of Delegates, the Republican consultant has two “Strong Republican” districts, seven “Leans Republican” districts, and 27 “Strong Democratic” districts in deep-“blue” Northern Virginia.
• For the House of Delegates, the Democratic consultant has three “Strong Republican” districts, two “Leans Republican” districts, and 30 “Strong Democratic” districts in deep-“blue” Northern Virginia.
• For the State Senate, the Republican consultant has two “Strong Republican” districts, two “Leans Republican” districts, and 11 “Strong Democratic” districts in deep-“blue” Northern Virginia.
• For the State Senate, the Democratic consultant has one “Strong Republican” district, one “Leans Republican” district, and 12 “Strong Democratic” districts in deep-“blue” Northern Virginia.