DCCC responds to the redistricting proposal in Virginia
Plus clarity on whether Ayala is considering DPVA chair.
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DCCC Chair Rep. Patrick Maloney Responds to Redistricting Proposal in Virginia
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is responding to the redistricting proposal that the Supreme Court of Virginia (SCOVA) is considering. The maps lower the reelection prospects for a few Democratic incumbents across the commonwealth.
“Virginia’s first draft Congressional map is a disaster that completely fails to deliver fair representation that reflects the Commonwealth,” said Rep. Patrick Maloney, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). “Virginia voters wanted a bipartisan and transparent process. What they got was two people hastily drafting a map behind closed doors and ignoring public input.”
In the proposal submitted by two special masters to SCOVA last week, Reps. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Elaine Luria (VA-02), and Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) received unfavorable districts.
Spanberger was drawn into a more conservative district with Republican Congressman Rob Wittman. The seventh district that she currently represented was shifted to Northern Virginia to form a new district anchored in Prince William County. Spanberger has not released any comment about the proposal.
Luria was drawn into a district with powerful Democratic incumbent Bobby Scott. Residing in Norfolk, she was barely drawn out of the district that is anchored in Virginia Beach. The law does not require that members of Congress live in their district, however. Luria has also not released any public comment about the redistricting proposal.
Wexton’s district was reliably blue before the redraw and received a more favorable drawing for Republicans in the proposal, putting the seat into play. Wexton flipped the seat in 2018.
“The first draft result is a deeply flawed and racially problematic map that prioritizes male incumbents while exclusively punishing female incumbents in the delegation,” Maloney said. “The special masters seem to be attached to a Virginia that exists only in the past. They must start the process from scratch and offer a map reflective of Virginia’s richly diverse population.”
The Princeton Gerrymandering Project released grades for the redistricting proposals that were submitted to SCOVA. They scored the congressional draft as an “A” overall and in Partisan Fairness, with “Cs” in Competitiveness and Geography.
“It has five pretty safe D seats, 2 very safe R seats, 2 lean R seats, and 2 lean D seats (for a likely delegation of 7D-4R),” their report said. “These results could be quite different in R-leaning years, with a delegation of 6R-5D from Virginia quite feasible.”
The maps are not final as SCOVA still has to approve them. It is unclear how much altering the court will do to the lines, but there seems to be a general consensus among operatives in both parties that the final maps will be similar to the ones released Wednesday.
The court is asking for public feedback on the maps in two separate hearings this week.
If you are interested in participating in the public hearings that are taking place between 1 pm and 4 pm on Dec. 15 and Dec. 17, email the court at Redistricting@vacourts.gov with your request.
There is no update on the status of the ransomware attack that hit the General Assembly over the weekend. As IT staffers said Monday, this will likely not be a quick process to resolve. This is a developing story that Virginia Scope hopes to acquire new information about throughout the day today. Specifically, the impact this might have on the upcoming legislative session that is scheduled to begin in one month.
Executive Moves
Governor Ralph Northam will be making another budget announcement this morning in Richmond at The Market at 25th
Rumor mill
Is Hala Ayala trying to become the next DPVA party chair? John McGuire is still running for Congress against Spanberger — at least in his fundraising efforts, and a GOP group says they are working with Del. Nick Freitas to repeal the VCEA. Also, a bunch of domain names were registered with Virginia legislator’s names included, perhaps foreshadowing who might run for higher officer soon. Find out the details on all of that and more below: