Virginia judge temporarily blocks Democrats' redistricting work on bid to flip 4 congressional seats

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 5:17 PM EST, February 19, 2026


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia court on Thursday temporarily blocked Democrats from preparing for an April voter referendum to redraw the state’s congressional maps, handing the party another setback in its efforts to pick up four more U.S. House seats in the national redistricting battle.

The Tazewell Circuit Court in Virginia granted a temporary restraining order requested by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee over the ballot referendum’s timing and phrasing. The motion, also signed by Republican U.S. Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith, argued that Democrats were ramming redistricting-related bills through the legislature despite legal hurdles that prevent such a rushed process.

It’s the second time Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. has ruled against Democrats’ redistricting agenda. In January, Hurley ruled that a resolution for a constitutional amendment was illegally passed in a special legislative session and taken up too close to an intervening election.

That case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court, and justices had said they would allow the referendum to proceed while they review the appeal.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/virginia-redistricting-democrats-map-referendum-d4ece389549224ff188a86b9e3bad201

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REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143612154
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143615793

[SSJVegeta]

1. Sounds like the state supreme court already made their decision on this

...Wonder how they feel about a lower court trying to overrule them?

[BaronChocula]

2. So will it take another ruling

from the state supreme court to remove this most recent block? They just allowed the referendum to move forward last Friday.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. It appears that the state supreme court overruled this judge

Link to tweet

However, Hurley was quickly overruled by the Virginia Supreme Court, which said that the redistricting vote could go forward.
Democrats slammed Hurley’s previous ruling as being the product of court-shopping.
So far, the GOP has redrawn congressional maps to favor Republicans in Texas, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. The party is also pursuing redistricting in Florida and potentially other states.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. "Democrats slammed Hurley's previous ruling as being the product of court-shopping."

It's gonna take awhile to "blue-up" the rest of VA!