Democrats spent a great deal more than Republicans. But the constitutional amendment was only narrowly backed by voters to allow the use of new districts drawn by Virginia's Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
The “yes” vote carried the day with 51.5% of more than 3 million votes cast.
It is expected to give Democrats the potential to win 10 of the state’s 11 districts in November's midterm elections, even though the state is more evenly divided politically like the current map represents.
Abigail Spanberger, Virginia’s new Democrat governor, promised last November that she would work to redraw the map.
“I understand the urgency of winning congressional seats as a check on this President, and I look forward to campaigning with candidates across the Commonwealth working to earn Virginians’ trust," she said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, of North Carolina, who is chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the "close margin reinforces that Virginia is a purple state that shouldn’t be represented by a severe partisan gerrymander.”
Robert Knight is a columnist for the Washington Times, who lives in northern Virginia.
“While it looks like the Democrats could recapture the House in November, three things could forestall it. One, the U.S. could just outright win the Iranian war, and the oil starts flowing, and the economy kicks up, and everything's great and people are less inclined to vote Democrat.
“Two, there are still redistricting opportunities out there, including in Florida, which could add five Republican seats."
And Knight says three, there are still legal questions regarding Virginia's referendum.
“It was rushed through, they apparently broke the rules and the case is still before the Virginia Supreme Court, but also a federal lawsuit could be filed challenging it."
Knight thinks federal legal action might be necessary because he doubts the state supreme court would vacate the results of the referendum.
