Redistricting aimed at helping GOP in midterms could cost them in Virginia

Politics Redistricting effort aimed at helping Republicans in midterms could cost them dearly in Virginia 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 February 6, 2026 / 2:56 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google President Trump's Republican Party has gambled on redrawing Democratic-held congressional districts in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to help boost conservatives' chances at holding on to a narrow House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. This out of the ordinary mid-decade approach, however, may end up costing Republicans as many as four congressional seats in Virginia. Democrats this week have prepared a harsh partisan gerrymander that could dramatically shift the commonwealth's representation on Capitol Hill if it were to become law and be used in this fall's elections. "Today we are leveling the playing field," Virginia Democratic state Sen. L. Louise Lucas said in a social media video. "These are not ordinary times and Virginia will not sit on the sidelines while it happens." Questions remain, however, about whether the larger endeavor will survive ongoing legal scrutiny. And it faces the challenge of needing quick voter approval in a part of the south that is by no means a blue sanctuary of statewide voters.  "This extreme proposal rigs the game before a single vote is cast," GOP Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman, one of the four incumbents targeted by the proposal, said in a statement.The move in Virginia serves as the latest escalation of a feud between Republicans and Democrats ahead of an election rife with the historical precedent that the incumbent president's party tends to lose House seats in the midterm...