The Virginia Ruling Was a Gut Punch. Democrats Can Still Win the House
This morning's ruling killed four Democratic pickups, but there's still hope
Like me, you were probably going about your Friday morning feeling bad about the world but good about Democratic prospects this fall when the Virginia Supreme Court dropped a giant flaming bag of poop into your lap (apologies for that vivid metaphor).
This morning, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the referendum that passed two weeks ago, which would have allowed the state to redraw the congressional map to give Democrats four new seats. After it passed, there was much crowing by Democrats about how the GOP’s efforts to rig the midterm map had failed, and that Democrats had successfully fought back. We seemed to be on a glide path to winning the House with relative ease.
Well, since that moment, it’s been all bad news.
First, Florida redrew its map in an attempt to add four Republican seats. Then, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, essentially legalizing racial gerrymandering and giving permission to Republicans to eliminate Democratic districts drawn to be majority-minority. And now, the Virginia decision has made a bad situation worse.
After all of this insanity, where do things stand in the battle for the House? Are Democrats still favored, or have Republicans successfully rigged the midterms despite a brutal political environment and a woefully unpopular President?
