Virginia voters approve new congressional map favoring Democrats, CBS News projects

Politics Virginia voters approve new congressional map favoring Democrats, CBS News projects By Caroline Linton Caroline Linton Associate Managing Editor, Politics Caroline Linton is an associate managing editor on the political team for CBSNews.com. She has previously written for The Daily Beast, Newsweek and amNewYork. Read Full Bio Caroline Linton Updated on: April 21, 2026 / 9:00 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a new congressional map that would give Democrats an advantage in 10 House districts, leaving just one safe Republican seat, CBS News projects. The new map could help Democrats pick up as many as four House seats, marking a major blow for Republicans in a nationwide redistricting battle ahead of this year's midterm elections. The referendum had been pitched by Democrats as a way to counter President Trump's push for GOP states to redraw their congressional maps to benefit Republicans, led by Texas, which made five of its Democratic districts GOP-leaning. A similar ballot question spearheaded by California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sailed through last year, moving five GOP-held districts leftward and potentially canceling out Texas' gambit. Missouri and North Carolina followed by redrawing their maps to edge out Democrats in one seat apiece. But a measure to redraw Indiana's map to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage failed in the state Senate and a measure pushed by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to edge out the state's lone Republican representative died in the state legislature.While state legislatures can redraw congressional maps in some states, Virginia voters in 2020 approved a constitutional amendment that created a bipartisan commission to draw their state's map. Tuesday's referendum set aside the current maps drawn up by the commission, replacing them with maps that were drawn by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. The previous system will be put back in place after the 2030 census.&n...