Va. Judge Rules Dem-Led Redistricting Plan Violates State Law
A Virginia judge on Tuesday ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow state Democrats to redraw the commonwealth’s congressional maps was illegal, a decision that dealt a setback to efforts to reshape district boundaries ahead of the 2026 U.S. House elections.
Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. found that lawmakers failed to follow several procedural and constitutional requirements when advancing the amendment, including not meeting the required notice and publication deadlines and attempting to take up the measure during a legislative session not properly authorized for constitutional changes. As a result, he declared the amendment void.
The amendment, passed by both chambers of the Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly in January, would have put a mid-decade redistricting plan before voters that could have significantly increased Democratic representation in Congress. Opponents argued the process violated state law and constitutionally required procedures for amending the charter.
Supporters of the amendment said Republicans were seeking a favorable ruling by filing the lawsuit in a more conservative jurisdiction and vowed to continue fighting the decision. Both sides have indicated plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
Virginians for Fair Elections, a campaign supporting the redistricting resolution, stated that an appeal is anticipated, the Washington Times reported.
“Republicans court-shopped for a ruling because litigation and misinformation are the only tools they have left,” campaign manager Keren Charles Dongo said. “We’re prepared for what comes next, and Virginians deserve both the right to vote and the chance to level the playing field.”
The ruling comes amid a broader, nationwide struggle over redistricting and mid-decade map changes in multiple states, with both parties using litigation and legislative strategies to influence the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In a separate development, the Virginia Supreme Court has temporarily allowed a statewide referendum on an updated redistricting proposal to proceed in April while the legal battle over the measure continues, underscoring the ongoing uncertainty over how and when new maps will be adopted.
The court’s order reverses a lower-court decision that had previously blocked the plan on procedural grounds. By allowing the referendum to go forward, the high court has set the stage for voters to decide on whether to amend the state constitution to permit lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map.
Under the proposed plan, Democratic leaders say the new map could significantly increase their party’s share of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House seats, potentially flipping up to four Republican-held districts. Republicans have criticized the initiative as a partisan effort to undercut GOP representation and distort electoral outcomes.
The referendum is scheduled for April 21, and while the decision allows the vote to proceed, the broader legal challenge to the redistricting measure remains active. Opponents could continue to pursue appeals after the referendum.
The ruling underscores the intensifying national battle over congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections, where control of the U.S. House of Representatives is in close contention.
President Donald Trump in December celebrated the Indiana House’s redistricting vote and increased public pressure on several state senators to approve a new congressional map that could give Republicans two additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump called the updated map “much fairer” and “improved,” congratulating Republican leaders in the Indiana General Assembly for passing the proposal earlier in the day, The Hill reported.
“It was my Honor to win Indiana six times, including Primaries, in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and this new Map would give the incredible people of Indiana the opportunity to elect TWO additional Republicans in the 2026 Midterm Elections,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The Indiana Senate must now pass this Map, AS IS, and get it to Governor Mike Braun’s desk, ASAP, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the ‘Hoosier State,’ and across the Country,” he said.
However, a handful of Indiana Senate Republicans refused to support the measure and it failed to garner enough votes to pass in January.
AI Model Makes Stunning Prediction of 2028 Presidential Winner
An artificial intelligence model has generated a speculative forecast about the 2028 U.S. presidential election, despite official candidates not yet being known, drawing attention on social media and YouTube.
The forecast was produced using Grok, an AI chatbot developed by the company associated with Elon Musk, after a YouTube channel asked the system to simulate a likely outcome based on a set of hypothetical candidates. The simulation included state-by-state projections, an electoral map, and projected vote totals for chosen figures from both major parties.
As the host explains, “In this video, I asked Grok AI to predict the 2028 presidential election and give us a map forecast.”
In the end, Vance was predicted to take 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 212, according to the simulation; 270 are needed to win the presidency.
On the Democratic side, Kamala Harris currently holds the lead in early primary polling with 32 percent of the support, putting her ahead of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has 23.8 percent.
Former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in third place, just shy of 10 percent, while Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro follow close behind.
The host notes that Harris’s resurgence may surprise some, given that “many people did write Kamala Harris off following her 2024 election defeat.”
Recent polling indicates that she is regaining her advantage. Additionally, the betting markets reflect this positive trend, now suggesting there’s a 56 percent chance she will seek the Democratic nomination in 2028, a significant rise from just 11.2 percent a few months back.
“Today, it is more likely than not that she is going to run again,” the video states.
On the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance leads early polling with 49.2 percent support, significantly ahead of Donald Trump Jr., who is trailing by 29 points. Senator Marco Rubio has 12.5 percent, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stands at 9.2 percent.
According to the simulation, Vance is the clear favorite for the GOP nomination, with a 46 percent chance of becoming the party’s standard-bearer. Rubio follows with an 18 percent chance.
The host notes: “If nothing big changes, he will very likely become the party’s nominee in the next presidential race.”
Grok’s simulation begins by defining “solid” states as those with a margin of 15 points or more. Vance’s solid column includes the following states: Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, most of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Ohio.
The inclusion of Ohio marks a significant shift; once a key battleground, the state has trended sharply to the right, Newsner noted.
“It is not difficult to see that he will carry the Buckeye State by a solid 15-point margin,” particularly following Donald Trump’s double-digit win there in 2024, the host said in the video.
Harris’s group of solid states mirrors much of her 2024 coalition, showing some modest gains. She is projected to win the states of Washington, California, Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Maine’s first congressional district by at least 15 points. Notably, the model predicts that Connecticut and Delaware will return to solid Democratic margins after experiencing narrower results in 2020.
After accounting for solid states, Vance leads with 139 electoral votes to 108. Additionally, the “likely” category, which contains margins between 5 and 15 points, further enhances his advantage.
He is projected to win in Iowa, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Alaska, and Maine’s second district.
Florida and Texas are viewed as firmly Republican due to recent gains by the party, while Arizona, which was narrowly won by Trump in 2024, is expected to remain in Republican hands. With these solidly Republican and likely states counted, Vance would secure 246 electoral votes, leaving him just 24 votes short of the 270 needed to win.
In the end, Vance is expected to take 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 212, according to the simulation; 270 are needed to win the presidency.
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