{"id":232,"date":"2026-06-02T13:39:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=232"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:39:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:39:52","slug":"what-missouri-republicans-got-right-and-virginia-democrats-got-wrong-in-redistricting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=232","title":{"rendered":"What Missouri Republicans Got Right And Virginia Democrats Got Wrong In Redistricting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It was a gruesome month for Democrats in the 2026 redistricting war. Virginia Democrats\u2019 effort to create a heavily Democrat-favored congressional gerrymander crashed and burned with losses at both the and the United States Supreme Court. Between those rulings, the Missouri Supreme Court an attempt to overturn a duly enacted congressional map in Missouri that may net Republicans an additional congressional seat.<\/p>\n

Read more Federal Judge Brinkema Sides With Marc Elias To Kill The Fund That Would Compensate Lawfare Victims<\/a><\/p>\n

Why the two ostensibly different results? Redistricting criteria are primarily set by state election law, and while Missouri Republicans followed the law, Virginia Democrats ignored their state\u2019s constitution. As my former team months ago, Virginia Democrats\u2019 scheme was doomed from the start by misguided procedural short-cuts. <\/p>\n

Missouri: <\/strong>Maggard v. State<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The saga of Maggard v. State<\/em> began when Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announced a special session to redraw congressional maps, targeting a safe blue 5th Congressional District. The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature passed the proposed map, with Kehoe signing the related bill into law.<\/p>\n

This month, in , two voters sued Missouri to suspend the state\u2019s new congressional map pending a referendum petition \u2014 a process not normally required for redistricting. The court ultimately decided against suspending Missouri\u2019s map because the case sought to create new requirements where none existed by attempting to automatically suspend the map upon the mere filing of a referendum petition with the secretary of state.<\/p>\n

Missouri Republicans have so far engaged in their mid-decade redistricting by the book and their new map has now been approved by the Missouri Supreme Court multiple times. Time will tell if the Democrat-led referendum petition will move beyond the filing stage or if it will be found insufficient by the state, but, regardless, it is safe to say that the Democrats will continue to challenge Missouri\u2019s new congressional map.<\/p>\n

Virginia: A Very Different Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In my service to Virginia, I saw some of the Commonwealth\u2019s most significant election-related matters and litigation in recent memory, including the start of Virginia Democrats\u2019 gerrymandering attempt in late 2025.<\/p>\n

Virginia Democrats\u2019 ill-fated attempt to gerrymander under the premise of \u201crestor[ing] fairness\u201d cost them more than $60 million in messaging and cost Virginia taxpayers more than $5 million \u2014 not including litigation costs. Virginia Democrats\u2019 gerrymander attempt was doomed from the start by procedural missteps: most significantly, they began the process too late.<\/p>\n

Read more The Senate GOP\u2019s Legacy Will Be Killing Accountability For Dem Lawfare<\/a><\/p>\n

The Virginia Constitution vests redistricting authority with an Independent Redistricting Commission rather than the legislature. For Virginia Democrats to initiate their gerrymander, they had to first attempt to amend Virginia\u2019s constitution to temporarily supersede the authority of the commission. In order to amend the constitution, the legislature must first approve a proposed amendment in two legislative sessions with an intervening election of the House of Delegates in between the two approvals. Only then can a proposed amendment be voted on via referendum.<\/p>\n

The Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature first approved its proposed gerrymandering amendment on Oct. 31, 2025. At that late date \u2014 and after weeks of early voting \u2014 more than 1.3 million votes had already been cast in the November 2025 general election: roughly 40 percent of total votes cast in that election. Virginia Democrats clearly started their gerrymandering attempt during, <\/em>rather than before, the general election. Accordingly, there was no \u201cintervening\u201d election during the constitutional amendment process, as required by Virginia\u2019s constitution. This did not stop Virginia Democrats from approving the proposed amendment again in early 2026 and holding a referendum.<\/p>\n

On May 8, 2026, the Virginia Supreme Court the proposed amendment and referendum results because Virginia Democrats violated the intervening election requirement of the Virginia constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently Virginia Democrats\u2019 attempt to stay the Virginia Supreme Court\u2019s decision a week later.<\/p>\n

Who could have seen this coming? Then-Attorney General Jason Miyares and my team in his Election Law Section did. In fact, while Virginia Democrats were scrambling to ram through their redistricting vote in the week before the November 2025 general election, three days before it passed the legislature, Miyares, working with both my Election Law Section and the Office of the Attorney General\u2019s Opinions Section, stated exactly that in Attorney General . Had Virginia Democrats read Miyares\u2019 opinion, it would have saved them and the taxpayers of Virginia tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Ultimately the misadventures of Virginia and Missouri Democrats should cause lawmakers contemplating such action to remember that while they may be free to exercise their authority, \u201cthe Rule of Law requires that it be done the right way,\u201d as Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote in the Virginia Supreme Court majority opinion. Each state possesses different redistricting procedures that must be strictly followed.<\/p>\n

Virginia Democrats cannot act beyond their state\u2019s laws to suit their legislative agenda, just as Missouri Democrats cannot create new law via court decree to suspend Missouri\u2019s congressional map.<\/p>\n

Read more Canada Needs A Real Reckoning For The \u2018Mass Graves\u2019 Hoax<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missouri Republicans followed the law to the letter, while Virginia Democrats ignored their state\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[976,73,207,796,977,978,979,980,981,284,982,135,771,214],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","tag-election-law","tag-elections","tag-gerrymandering","tag-jason-miyares","tag-luther-v-hoskins","tag-maggard-v-state","tag-mike-kehoe","tag-missouri","tag-office-of-virginia-attorney-general","tag-redistricting","tag-scott-v-mcdougle","tag-supreme-court","tag-virginia","tag-virginia-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Missouri Republicans Got Right And Virginia Democrats Got Wrong In Redistricting - Property Transition Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=232\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Missouri Republicans Got Right And Virginia Democrats Got Wrong In Redistricting - Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Missouri Republicans followed the law to the letter, while Virginia Democrats ignored their state\u2019s constitution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=232\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T13:39:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=232#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=232\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/318e38080556664c79a2d76a6b0894b2\"},\"headline\":\"What Missouri Republicans Got Right And Virginia Democrats Got Wrong In Redistricting\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T13:39:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=232\"},\"wordCount\":840,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/?p=232#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/propertytransitionmedia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/19a4a271eb09ba91468d5bdb6b815cc6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Election Law\",\"Elections\",\"gerrymandering\",\"Jason Miyares\",\"Luther v. 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