Updated May 15, 2026 — Washington
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to revive a voter-approved Virginia congressional map drawn to benefit Democrats, leaving intact a decision by the Virginia Supreme Court that had invalidated the amendment authorizing the new districts. The court issued an unsigned, one-sentence order and recorded no dissents.
Virginia Democrats had asked the high court for emergency relief after the state’s top court, in a 4-3 ruling, found that lawmakers failed to follow the proper constitutional process when placing the amendment before voters. That state-court decision blocked the redistricting plan just days after Virginia voters approved the proposal in April.
In their petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Democratic legislative leaders argued the Virginia court’s ruling was “deeply mistaken” on federal-law issues and said the decision deprived voters, candidates and the Commonwealth of lawfully enacted congressional districts. Virginia Republicans urged the Supreme Court to deny review, saying the dispute turned on state-law questions and that Democrats had no meritorious case in federal court.
The Virginia effort was the latest episode in a broader mid-decade redistricting fight. Republicans in Texas adopted a congressional map last year, at the urging of former President Trump, that could yield the GOP up to five additional House seats. California officials responded by drawing—and getting voters to approve—a new map intended to net Democrats roughly five seats; the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed both the Texas and California maps to be used in the midterm elections.
State lawmakers in North Carolina, Missouri and Florida have also reconfigured House lines in ways that favor Republicans. And after the Supreme Court recently narrowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, officials in Louisiana and states including Alabama and Tennessee have said they will pursue new congressional maps ahead of their primaries.
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene, the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling stands and the newly approved but state-court-blocked districts will not be used for the upcoming elections. Critics on both sides of the partisan map fights continue to press their cases in state and federal courts as the 2026 midterms approach.