By a 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a suit brought by Virginia Republicans seeking an injunction against a U.S. district court’s ruling that found current state House and Senate maps to be unconstitutional. The ruling, which blurred conventional party lines, states that black voters were unfairly packed into left-leaning districts, after nearly a decade of contention following the redrawing of the state’s electoral maps in 2011, following the redrawing of the state’s electoral maps in 2011.
Now, with every single House and Senate seat up for grabs this November, a new map, drawn by ‘Special Master’ Bernard Groffman a professor of political science at the University of California, will be used to elect Virginia’s legislature. Unfortunately for Virginians, the map, lauded by the case’s plaintiffs as a fair solution to partisan gerrymandering, looks pretty darn gerrymandered, conveniently packing sapphire blue neighborhoods into purple districts. In effect, the new maps don’t solve Virginia’s gerrymandering problem, they merely change the beneficiary.
THIS IS BAD FOR REPUBLICANS NO MATTER WHICH SIDE YOU ARE ON. SEE TWEET BELOW:
It’s no coincidence. As was the case in 2014 when Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck down, Democrats have no problem using the government’s judicial branch to make changes they haven’t been elected to make. The plaintiffs knew exactly what they were doing when they brought the case to court, backed by OneVirginia2021, a supposedly non-partisan, Charlottesville-based, anti-gerrymandering PAC that curiously donates money exclusively to Democrats. A quick look at OneVirginia2021’s profile over at OpenSecrets.org reveals a 2018 donation of $7,000 to failed Democrat candidate for Congress, Leslie Cockburn, as well $2,500 to another failed Democrat candidate, Dave Belote. So much for ‘non-partisan’.
In addition to shelling out cash for left-wing radicals, OneVirginia2021 appears to have no problem filling their ranks with them. The Twitter account of the group’s Executive Director, Brian Cannon, is chocked full of the sort of standard Democrat talking points one doesn’t expect from the leader of a ‘non-partisan’ PAC. Sally Hudson, an anti-gun zealot, an advocate of bringing San Francisco-style ranked choice voting to Virginia, and all around left-wing extremist running for Delegate in Virginia’s 57th District is routinely touted as a ‘OneVirginia‘ member.
Linda Perriello, the mother of former Congressman and Obama-era DNC darling Tom Perriello, chairs the group’s advocacy board, while Susan Platt, yet another failed Democrat candidate for office, serves as treasurer/secretary. The Advocacy Board also includes Anne Sterling of the radically pro-abortion League of Women Voters.
It’s obvious to most what’s going on here. As is typical among the left, in an attempt to redraw Virginia’s electoral maps without voters’ consent, OneVirginia2021 has resorted to the lowest common denominator: skin color. Today’s ruling does nothing to solve gerrymandering in Virginia, but it does everything to ensure Democrats get the map they want.
Twitter user Michael McDonald “@ElectProject” Tweeted:
“The Virginia Senate is up for election this November, too. If Democrats win unified control of the state government, that may doom redistricting reform that has already cleared initial hurdles since Democrats could easily become disinterested if they hold the power”
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