Obama calls on voters to help Democrats' Virginia redistricting ahead of midterms

Politics Obama calls on voters to help Democrats' Virginia redistricting ahead of midterm elections By Hunter Woodall Hunter Woodall Political Editorial Producer Hunter Woodall is a political editorial producer for CBS News. He covered the 2020 New Hampshire primary for The Associated Press and has also worked as a Kansas statehouse reporter for The Kansas City Star and the Washington correspondent for Minnesota's Star Tribune. Read Full Bio Hunter Woodall March 5, 2026 / 10:53 AM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Former President Barack Obama is calling on voters in Virginia to support a ballot measure this spring that would change the commonwealth's constitution and cause new congressional district boundaries benefiting Democrats to be used in this fall's midterm elections. In a video posted to social media on Thursday morning, Obama noted the surge of mid-decade redistricting started last year when Texas Republicans started work to shift five Democratic seats and make them more favorable to Republicans. Since then, California Democrats were able to redraw the lines involving five GOP-held seats to try and offset Texas' gerrymander. Republicans in North Carolina and Missouri last year also altered a Democratic-held seat in each of their respective states to try and help the GOP. "In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states," Obama, a Democrat, said in the video. "This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall." Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House and are contending with the prospect of losing control of the chamber this fall when every seat is on the ballot. Virginia Democrats' redistricting effort has proven to be a lengthy process, and legal concerns have surrounded much of the work and thrown some uncertainty into the outcome. The commonwealth's map in place at the moment resulted in six Hou...