Virginia

Overview

  • Redistricting Process

  • Congressional and legislative maps are drawn by the Virginia Redistricting Commission, a 16-member body comprised of political appointees and citizen-applicants and submitted to the General Assembly for approval without amendment and not subject to the Governor’s veto.

  • 2020 APPORTIONMENT REPORT

  • Virginia’s congressional delegation remained at 11 seats following the 2020 reapportionment.

  • Executive Branch
  • Republican
    Glenn Youngkin
    Governor
  • Republican
    Winsome Sears
    Lt. Governor
  • Republican
    Kay Coles James
    Secretary of State
  • Republican
    Jason Miyares
    Attorney General
  • Supreme Court
  • Nonpartisan
    S. Bernard Goodwyn
    Chief Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Cleo E. Powell
    Associate Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Denham Arthur Kelsey
    Associate Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Stephen R. McCullough
    Associate Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Teresa M. Chafin
    Associate Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Thomas P. Mann
    Associate Justice
  • Nonpartisan
    Wesley G. Russell Jr.
    Associate Justice
Current Congressional Boundaries
Current State House of Delegates Boundaries
Current State Senate Boundaries

To view past district shapefiles, see our Map Archive Page.

Useful Links
State Data Resources
Redistricting Resources
Redistricting Commission Members

Legislative Commissioners

  • Les Adams, Republican
  • Margaret Ransone, Republican
  • Steve Newman, Republican
  • Ryan McDougle, Republican
  • Delores McQuinn, Democrat
  • Marcus Simon, Democrat
  • Mamie Locke, Democrat
  • George Barker, Democrat

Citizen Commissioners

  • Mackenzie Babichenko, Republican
  • Jose A. Feliciano, Jr., Republican
  • Richard Harrell, Republican
  • Virginia Thornton, Republican
  • James Abrenio, Democrat
  • Brandon Hutchins, Democrat
  • Greta Harris, Democrat
  • Sean Kumar, Democrat

Virginia Redistricting Process

Congressional & Legislative

Primary Authority: The Virginia Redistricting Commission, a 16-member body comprised of political appointees and citizen-applicants, draws congressional and legislative plan proposals and submits them to the Virginia General Assembly for approval, without amendment. Once passed by both chambers, plans become law without the Governor’s signature.

  • Members: 8 Commissioners are selected from the Virginia General Assembly; 4 from the Senate and 4 from the House. The President of the Virginia Senate, the Speaker of the Virginia House, and the minority leaders from both chambers each appoint two members. The remaining 8 Commissioners are selected from a pool of citizen-applicants by the Redistricting Commission Selection Committee, a panel of 5 retired Virginia circuit court judges. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia submits the names of at least 10 retired judges to the majority and minority leaders of the Virginia General Assembly. Each leader selects one judge to serve and then those four judges select the fifth judge who serves as chair of the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee administers an application for process for interested citizens and a list of eligible applicants is forwarded to the legislative leaders. The legislative leaders each submit a list of at least 16 candidates to the Selection Committee and the Committee selects two persons from each list to be the final 8 Commissioners. [Va. Const. art. II, § 6-A(b); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-392(A), (C), (E); 30-393(A), (B); 30-394(A)–(F)]
  • Timing: The initial 8 legislator Commissioners must be appointed no later than December 1 of years ending in 0. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia must submit their list of retired judges to the legislative leaders by November 15 of years ending in 0. The leaders must select the initial 4 Committee members by November 20 and those 4 must select the 5th member-judge within three days of being notified of their selection. Within 3 days of the appointment of the 5th judge to the Selection Committee, the Committee must adopt an application process for citizen-commissioners which must begin no later than December 1 of years ending in 0 and end after 4 weeks. The list of eligible applicants must be delivered to legislative leaders within 2 days of the end of the application period. The legislative leaders must send their list of 16 citizen-candidates to the Selection Committee by January 1 of years ending in 1 and the Committee must appoint the citizen-commissioners within two weeks of receipt and no later than January 15 of years ending in 1. The full Commission must hold a public meeting and select its chairman by February 1 of years ending in 1. If a given deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or day on which the relevant government office is closed, it is pushed to the next available business day. [Va. Const. art. II, §§ 6-A(b), (c); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-392(B), (C), (E); 30-393(B); 30-394]
  • Eligibility: For the Selection Committee, retired judges who are related to or sharing a household with a member of the U.S. Congress or Virginia General Assembly are prohibited from serving. No appointing authority can appoint themselves to serve on the Redistricting Commission and appointments to both the Selection Committee and Redistricting Commission should reflect the state’s racial, ethnic, geographic, and gender diversity. Citizen-Commissioners must have been a Virginia resident and registered voter for 3 years immediately preceding the application period, shall have voted in at least 2 of the 3 previous general elections, and must disclose certain specified information in their application to serve. To be eligible to serve, Citizen-Commissioners must not: hold, have held, or have sought partisan public office or political party office; be employed or have been employed by a member of Congress, member of the Virginia General Assembly, or those institutions directly; be employed or have been employed by any federal, state, or local campaign; be employed or have been employed by any political party or be a member of a political party central committee; be or have been a registered lobbyist or a lobbyist’s principal in the previous 5 years; be related to or sharing a household with any individual that falls into any of these categories. The Chairman of the Redistricting Commission must be a citizen-commissioner. [Va. Const. art. II, § 6-A(b); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-392(A), (B), (C), (E); 30-393(B); 30-394]
  • Voting: The Selection Committee appoints its 5th member and citizen-commissioners by majority vote and a majority including the chairman is required for quorum. For the Redistricting Commission, quorum requires a majority of members, including a majority of the legislative commissioners and a majority of the citizen commissioners. In order to adopt and submit proposed redistricting plans to the General Assembly, plans must receive affirmative votes from at least 6 of the 8 legislative commissioners and at least 6 of the 8 citizen commissioners. For state Senate proposals, at least 3 of the 4 Senate commissioners must vote in favor of it and for state House proposals, at least 3 of the 4 House commissioners must vote in favor of it. [Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-392(E); 30-393(B); 30-394(F); 30-397(A), (B)]
  • Public Input & Transparency: The Redistricting Commission must give adequate notice of all meetings and hearings and must maintain a website allowing the public to access information about their activities and submit comments and proposals. All proposals and data used by the Commission must be posted to the website within 3 days of receipt by the Commission. Prior to submitting plan proposals to the General Assembly, the Commission must hold at least 3 public hearings in different parts of the state to collect public input. Selection Committee meetings and records are subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and Committee members are prohibited from communicating with members of the Virginia General Assembly or U.S. Congress, or any persons acting on their behalf, regarding the selection of citizen commissioners after the lists of 16 candidates are received. Redistricting Commission meetings and records are subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and all underlying records and documents pertaining to their work, including internal and external communications, are considered public information. Commissioners, Commission staff, and any advisors or consultants are prohibited from communicating with any person outside the Commission on redistricting related matters outside of a public meeting or hearing. [Va. Const. art. II, §§ 6-A(c), (h), (i); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-392(E)–(G); 30-396]

Backup Authority: If the Redistricting Commission fails to submit, or the General Assembly fails to enact, a redistricting plan by its relevant deadline, the Supreme Court of Virginia establishes the necessary plan(s). The Court must adopt rules and procedures for this backup redistricting process by March 1 of years ending in 1. Public participation is required for the Court’s redistricting deliberations. Two special masters are appointed to aid the Court. Within 7 days of the Commission’s or General Assembly’s missed deadline, the majority and minority leaders of the Virginia Senate and Virginia House submits a list of three or more nominees to the Court. The Court selects, by majority vote, one special master from the majority leaders’ lists and one from the minority leaders’ lists, both of whom must be qualified, experienced, and possess no conflicts of interest. Justices who are related to or sharing a household with a member of the Virginia General Assembly or U.S. Congress must recuse themselves from these proceedings. [Va. Const. art. II, § 6-A(f), (g); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-397(C); 30-398(C), (D); 30-399]

Mapping Timeline: After holding the required public hearings, the Redistricting Commission must adopt and submit proposed legislative plans to the General Assembly no later than 45 days following the receipt of census data. It must adopt and submit a proposed congressional plan no later than 60 days following the receipt of census data or by July 1 of that year, whichever occurs later. The General Assembly must vote on plans within 15 days of receipt. If a plan is rejected, the Commission must submit a new plan to the General Assembly within 14 days of its failure and the General Assembly must vote on it within 7 days of receipt. If the Commission fails to meet either of its initial deadlines, it has an additional 14 days following the missed deadline to submit the relevant plan(s) to the General Assembly. If submitted this way, the General Assembly must vote on the plan within 7 days of receipt. If the Commission fails to submit plans by its second deadline, or the General Assembly fails to enact a plan by its relevant deadlines, the Supreme Court of Virginia establishes the necessary plan(s). [Va. Const. art. II, § 6-A(d)–(g); Va. Code Ann. §§ 30-396(B); 30-397(A)–(C); 30-398; 30-399]

Redistricting Criteria: Contiguous; Compact (measured district-by-district and statewide average); As nearly equal in population as practicable (max 5% deviation for legislative districts); Provide opportunities for racial and ethnic communities to elect candidates of their choice, where practicable; Preserve communities of interest (area with similar social, cultural, and economic interests and not based on political affiliation or relationship with a party, elected official, or candidate); May consider political boundaries.

PROHIBITED: Statewide plan unduly favoring or disfavoring a political party; Diluting or diminishing ability of racial or language minorities to elect candidates of choice alone or in coalition with others; Districts resulting in denial or abridgement of the rights of racial or language minorities to participate in political process and elect candidates of choice (using specifically modified totality of circumstances standard) [Va. Const. art. II, § 6; Va. Code Ann. § 24.2-304.04]

Map Challenges: Venue not specified, but if any plan is invalidated by a court the Commission must reconvene and adopt a remedial plan correcting the deficiencies. [Va. Code Ann. § 30-400]

Ballot Measure & Referendum Processes

Types of Measures: Only the Virginia General Assembly can refer amendments to the ballot. There is no initiative or referendum process. [Va. Const. art. XII, § 1]

Previous Redistricting Cycles

2020

  • Congressional
    • Special Master’s Second Proposal
      • Adopted = December 28, 2021
    • Litigation History
      • Adkins v. Virginia Redistricting Comm'n, No. 210770 (Va. Sept. 22, 2021): On August 13, 2021, a group of registered Virginia voters and a Virginia State Senator filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court seeking a writ of mandamus directed to the Virginia Redistricting Commission. On September 22, 2021, the court issued an order dismissing the petition on the grounds that the petitioners were not entitled to the types of relief they requested.
      • In re Decennial Redistricting, (Va. Dec. 28, 2021): Virginia's newly-created redistricting commission failed to adopt congressional and legislative redistricting plans by its constitutional deadline, and so, pursuant to the Virginia Constitution, map drawing authority passed to the Virginia Supreme Court. The court held public hearings on proposed plans on December 15 and 17, and on December 28 the Court issued an order adopting the special master's congressional and legislative plans as final, thereby ending the case.
  • Legislative
    • Special Master’s Second Proposal
      • Adopted = December 28, 2021
    • Litigation History
      • Adkins v. Virginia Redistricting Comm'n, No. 210770 (Va. Sept. 22, 2021): On August 13, 2021, a group of registered Virginia voters and a Virginia State Senator filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court, seeking a writ of mandamus directed to the Virginia Redistricting Commission. On September 22, 2021, the court issued an order dismissing the petition on the grounds that the petitioners were not entitled to the types of relief they requested.
      • In re Decennial Redistricting, (Va. Dec. 28, 2021): Virginia's newly-created redistricting commission failed to adopt congressional and legislative redistricting plans by its constitutional deadline, and so, pursuant to the Virginia Constitution, map drawing authority passed to the Virginia Supreme Court. The court held public hearings on proposed plans on December 15 and 17, and on December 28 the Court issued an order adopting the special master's congressional and legislative plans as final, thereby ending the case.
      • Thomas v. Beals, (E.D. Va. Aug. 1, 2022): On June 8, 2022, a Virginia voter filed a federal lawsuit against the Commissioner of Virginia's Department of Elections and the Chairman of Virginia's Board of Elections challenging the 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election as violating his constitutional rights. The plaintiff asserts that the Virginia House of Delegates districts used in the 2021 election were unconstitutionally malapportioned in violation of the one person, one vote requirement under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, thereby violating his constitutional right to an equally weighted vote. On August 1, 2022, the district court issued an opinion dismissing the plaintiffs' claims because they lacked the traceability and redressability requirements to establish constitutional standing.

2010

  • Congressional
    • Original Plan – HB 251
      • Passed = January 20, 2012 (R-controlled)
      • Signed = January 25, 2012
      • Preclearance = Granted on March 14, 2012
    • Litigation History
      • Page v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 58 F.Supp.3d 533 (E.D. Va. 2014): Plaintiffs challenged one of the districts in the General Assembly’s enacted congressional plan as a racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. On October 7, 2014, the district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that race was the predominant factor when drawing the challenged district and such use of race was not narrowly tailored for the plan to survive strict scrutiny.
      • Page v. Va. State Bd. of Elections II, No. 3:13-cv-678 (E.D. Va. June 5, 2015): On remand, the district court again found that the challenged congressional district was an impermissible racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and ordered the General Assembly to enact a remedial plan by September 1, 2015.
        • Wittman v. Personhuballah, 136 S.Ct. 1732 (2016): Incumbent members of Congress who intervened in the case appealed the district court’s decision striking down the General Assembly’s enacted congressional plan on racial gerrymandering grounds. On May 23, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the appellant-representatives lacked standing to appeal the decision.
      • Personhuballah v. Alcorn, 155 F.Supp.3d 552 (E.D. Va. 2016): After the General Assembly failed to enact a remedial congressional plan in accordance with the court’s order to do so, the federal court assumed responsibility for enacting a new plan. On January 7, 2016, the court adopted one of the plans proposed to it, Plan 16, for use in the 2016 election.
  • Legislative
    • Original Plan – HB 5001
      • Passed = April 11, 2011 (Split-control)
      • Vetoed = April 15, 2011 (R-controlled)
    • Second Plan – HB 5005
      • Passed = April 28, 2011 (Split-control)
      • Signed = April 29, 2011
      • Preclearance = Granted on June 17, 2011
    • Amended Senate Plan – SB 310
      • Passed = February 26, 2014 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = April 7, 2014 (D-controlled)
    • Amended Senate Plan – SB 986
      • Passed = February 17, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Amended Senate Plan – SB 1237
      • Passed = February 17, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Amended House Plan – HB 1332
      • Passed = February 20, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Amended House Plan – HB 1699
      • Passed = February 20, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Amended House Plan – HB 1417
      • Passed = February 23, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Amended Senate Plan – SB 1084
      • Passed = February 24, 2015 (R-controlled)
      • Vetoed = March 26, 2015 (D-controlled)
    • Litigation History
      • Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 137 S.Ct. 788 (2017): Plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging the General Assembly’s enacted state House and Senate plans as racial gerrymanders in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The district court initially upheld the plans after concluding from its analysis of the new lines that race did not predominate in their creation and that the General Assembly had good reasons to believe its use of a racial target percentage was necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act. On March 1, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s invalidation of one district but reversed and remanded as to the other challenged districts on the grounds the district court misapplied the standard of review when determining whether race was the predominant consideration when creating the plans.
      • Vesilind v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 813 S.E.2d 739 (Va. 2018): Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the General Assembly’s enacted state House and Senate plans as violating the state constitution’s compactness requirement. The trial court upheld the plans as constitutional, and on May 31, 2018, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed, upholding the plans as in compliance with the Virginia Constitution.
      • Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 326 F.Supp.3d 128 (E.D. Va. 2018): On June 26, 2018, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the district court struck down eleven challenged state House districts as racial gerrymanders in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and ordered they be redrawn.
        • Va. House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, 139 S.Ct. 1945 (2019): Virginia’s Attorney General announced the state would not be appealing the district court’s invalidation of several House districts on racial gerrymandering grounds, but the state House of Delegates did appeal that decision on their own. On June 17, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the House did not have standing to appeal the decision, either to represent the State’s interests or in its own right.
      • Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 368 F.Supp.3d 872 (E.D. Va. 2019): After the General Assembly failed to enact a remedial state House plan pursuant to the court’s order, the court took responsibility for implementing a remedial plan and appointed a special master to assist in doing so. On February 14, 2019, the district court adopted its final remedial state House plan and ordered it be used for the 2019 legislative elections.
      • Goldman v. Brink, No. 3:21-cv-420 (E.D. Va. 2021): On June 28, 2021, a Virginia voter filed a federal lawsuit against Virginia's Governor, the Virginia Department of Elections, the State Board of Elections, and various state election officials, challenging the state's plan to move forward with the 2021 legislative elections under the legislative redistricting plan enacted during the 2010 cycle. On October 12, 2021, the district court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against Virginia's Governor and the State Board of Elections on the grounds they were barred by sovereign immunity, which the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit six days later.

2000

  • Congressional
    • Original Plan – HB 18
      • Passed = July 10, 2001 (R-controlled)
      • Signed = July 19, 2001
      • Preclearance = Granted on October 16, 2001
    • Litigation History
      • Hall v. Virginia, 385 F.3d 421 (4th Cir. 2004): Plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging one of the congressional districts in the General Assembly’s enacted plan as violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The district court dismissed the complaint on the grounds the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the requisite preconditions for bringing a Section 2 claim, and on September 22, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.
  • Legislative
    • Original Plans – HB 1 (House); SB 1 (Senate)
      • Passed = April 18, 2001 (R-controlled)
      • Signed = April 21, 2001
      • Preclearance = Granted as to House plan on June 15, 2001, and as to Senate plan on July 9, 2001
    • Litigation History
      • Wilkens v. West, 571 S.E.2d 100 (Va. 2002): Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging several of the General Assembly’s enacted state House and Senate districts as violating the state constitution on a number of grounds, including racial gerrymanders, pairing incumbents, partisan gerrymandering, compactness, and equal population. On November 1, 2002, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s judgment invalidating several House and Senate districts on the grounds the plaintiffs either lacked standing to pursue those claims or failed to establish their alleged constitutional violations, thereby upholding the plans.

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