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Democrat lawmakers say President Donald Trump’s redistricting gambit is backfiring as Virginia’s Democrat-controlled Senate advanced new congressional maps that could chip away at the House GOP’s majority.
The Virginia Senate voted 21-16 along party lines on Wednesday to pass a set of new congressional maps that would leave just one Republican district in play.
Republicans currently hold five.
To Republicans like Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., that’s too drastic a swing for a state that only has 11 districts to begin with. Even in light of similar redistricting pushes in Texas, California and other states, Wittman believes Virginia’s case is unique.
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters and members of the media at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 1, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
“This partisan power grab is not reflective of Virginia. Virginia is a 6-5 congressional delegation: six Democrats, five Republicans. And now they want to go to 10 Democrats, one Republican — 92%,” Wittman said.
“They’re going to disenfranchise most Virginians, if not all of them, that are Republican or independent.”
Despite the size of the change the maps would bring, Democrats believe it’s just the latest continuation of a fight that Trump started.
“You have to fight fire with fire,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.
“The voters that I’m talking to feel that we can’t just sit back and be victims of redistricting. I don’t think this would be happening unless [Trump] pushed for redistricting in Texas and other red states,” Subramanyam said.
When asked if he thinks the changes would go too far, Subramanyam said he thinks Republicans will have a chance to press their case at the ballot box.
“If Republicans can win over the hearts and minds of Virginians, they will have a good cycle. It’s a very volatile map in that…
