Virginia judge pauses redistricting referendum

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on Feb 19, 2026

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A Virginia judge on Thursday sided with national and local Republicans who challenged the commonwealth’s effort to have a referendum on mid-decade redistricting, temporarily pausing the effort.

The ruling, which temporarily stops election officials from carrying out a redistricting referendum in April, came after a hearing Thursday in a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and several GOP House members from the commonwealth.

It represents the second time in weeks that Judge Jack Hurley Jr. of the state Circuit Court of Tazewell County in southwestern Virginia has ruled against the redistricting effort.

The order said that Virginia officials would not be allowed to take steps toward the scheduled referendum until either March 18 or other court action. Hurley wrote in the order that it was highly likely the referendum process violated commonwealth law and the state constitution.

National Republicans trumpeted the ruling.

“For a second time, the Virginia courts have ruled against Virginia Democrats’ partisan attempt to ignore their own Constitution and rig the system in their favor. This is a massive win in defending honest representation for every Virginian,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.

The ruling will likely be appealed, as Democrats appealed the prior court ruling by Hurley in another case brought against the referendum effort. Democrats launched the redistricting effort in response to redistricting plans in Texas and other states at the behest of President Donald Trump last year.

Virginia’s new map would target several Republican-held seats in the commonwealth’s 11-member delegation. As many as 10 seats may end up with Democratic representatives as a result of the new map.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, argued that the underlying legislation allowing the referendum was unconstitutional because of its timing, as it was passed after early voting started last year. The complaint called the referendum language “misleading — if not an obvious falsehood” by claiming to restore fairness in the redistricting process.

“If anything, it destroys fairness, is the product of unfairness and is intended to increase unfairness,” the complaint said.

The suit said that Virginia legislators overstepped and should not be able to claim that their “blatant abuse of power” is restoring fairness in the commonwealth, as it is replacing a nonpartisan commission.

Last month in a lawsuit brought by state officials, Hurley found the legislature broke its own rules when it started the referendum process last year and that the legislature did not follow state law on the process for amending the Virginia Constitution.

Earlier this week, the commonwealth’s Supreme Court took that original challenge but allowed the redistricting effort to continue.

Before Thursday’s ruling, early voting on the redistricting referendum was set to begin next month, allowing the state to redistrict ahead of June primaries.

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., one of the plaintiffs in the suit, praised the ruling in a statement Thursday on social media, calling the redistricting effort illegal and subsequently soliciting donations on behalf of Trump.

“We are grateful that the court has agreed and swiftly applied justice to stop this unconstitutional power grab that would disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters by reassigning them members of Congress from other parts of the [commonwealth],” Cline’s statement on X said. “This ruling is an important victory in our fight to make sure that politicians don’t get to select their own voters.”