Obama throws his support behind Virginia Democrats’ redistricting plan as it heads to voters

Former President Barack Obama is promoting a Democratic effort to redraw congressional lines in Virginia, the latest front in a nationwide redistricting battle ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

The announcement Thursday comes a day after the state Supreme Court allowed the redistricting question to go to voters for an April 21 election. Early voting begins Friday.

It’s the second time Obama has agreed to stump for a Democratic effort that asks voters to temporarily set aside an independent redistricting process in favor of partisan maps as a way to counter President Donald Trump’s push for congressional gerrymandering in Republican-controlled states. California voters approved a similar measure last fall as a counterpoint to Republicans’ unusual mid-cycle redistricting that began in Texas.

In a video shared with The Associated Press ahead of its release, Obama asks Virginians to support the voter referendum on the redrawn maps. He said it will make sure “your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states.”

“This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall,” Obama says in the video, released by Virginians for Fair Elections. “And voters will have the final say over what the maps look like.”

In February, Virginia Democrats released a new congressional map aimed at giving their party four more seats. The Democratic-led legislature passed the proposed map, and Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the document into law.

The map goes into effect only if it’s backed by voters and the state Supreme Court.

And, Obama goes on to point out, it’s a temporary construct, as was the measure put before California voters. After the next census in 2030, he notes, “Virginia will go back to a system that lets a bipartisan redistricting commission redraw the maps.”

Court challenges continue

The situation in Virginia has been evolving swiftly, and there are no guarantees the new map will take effect this year even if it’s approved by voters.

Wednesday’s ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court was the second time it has decided that the new map could go before voters while the justices review legal challenges to the effort. The court still has not ruled on whether the mid-decade redistricting plan and voter referendum are legal, indicating that the April vote could be all for nothing if it upholds a lower-court ruling blocking the effort.

Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have sought to portray their redistricting plan as a response to Trump’s push for Republican states to redraw their maps in an attempt to maintain a GOP majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans describe it as a way for liberals in northern Virginia to commandeer congressional districts in the rest of the state.

Virginia is currently imposed by a court after a bipartisan legislative commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census.

Obama has made redistricting a priority

Redistricting has evolved into a signature issue for Obama.

He has called attention to the issue since leaving office in 2017 and helped raise money for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. That group is headed by Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general.

Obama was a vocal supporter of the Democratic redistricting ballot measure last year in California and appeared in ads supporting Proposition 50, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month.

Speaking at an NDRC fundraiser at the time, Obama said partisan gerrymandering was not his “preference.” But, he added, if Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republican-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.”

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Associated Press writer Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.