ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin rejected a call from a top state Democrat to consider redrawing Virginia’s political maps, calling the idea “misguided.”
The Republican governor told WFIR News on Monday that Virginia should not follow the partisan redistricting battles seen in other states. His comments were a direct response to a recent social media post by state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, the Senate President Pro Tempore, who suggested Virginia could pursue new maps.
“We have a commission for a reason,” Youngkin said in Roanoke, defending the independent redistricting body approved by voters in a 2020 constitutional amendment.
Lucas sparked the debate after former President Barack Obama praised California’s redistricting plans. She wrote on social media, “Every state in the nation should follow suit. Stay tuned for Virginia…”
However, the idea lacks unified support among Democrats. Abigail Spanberger, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, recently told ABC 7 News that she has “no plans to redistrict Virginia.”
After Virginia’s independent commission deadlocked in 2021, the state Supreme Court finalized the current political maps. Youngkin’s statement signals his administration will oppose any legislative effort to alter them.
