Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is using Trumpian language to savage the judicial decision to invalidate the Virginia popular vote permitting redistricting in the state. Reacting to the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the vote and strike down a redrawn congressional map of the state, McGovern lamented a political environment where “MAGA legislatures in 5 states changed their congressional maps without a single vote” while “Democrats empowered VOTERS in California & Virginia to choose who represents them in Congress.”
[NOTE: Virginia Supreme Court Justice D. Arthur Kelsey contended in his majority (4-3) opinion that the process to approve the new maps was placed improperly before voters. He wrote that “this violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.”]
McGovern concluded, using one of Trump’s favorite adjectives, that “only a rigged system would throw out a VOTER APPROVED map while letting MAGA seize power.”
MAGA legislatures in 5 states changed their congressional maps without a single vote.
Democrats empowered VOTERS in California & Virginia to choose who represents them in Congress.
Only a rigged system would throw out a VOTER APPROVED map while letting MAGA seize power.
We’re…
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) May 9, 2026
[NOTE: Gerrymandering — the process of redrawing the maps, originally intended to be done every decade based on census data — is a longstanding practice, with both Republicans and Democrats participating. Currently a candidate for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, Princeton University’s Sam Wang created a map that scores redistricting efforts in each state over time, which cites unbalanced redistricting efforts by both parties. It can be found at the Redistricting Report Card site, part of its Gerrymandering Project.]
The current version of the age-old redistricting fight was launched by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who heeded the urging of President Trump to gerrymander the Lone Star State by pushing a new map through the Republican legislature in an attempt to add five GOP seats to a slim House majority. (In Indiana, Republican legislators who resisted a similar effort were primaried by Trump-backed candidates who, just last week, won five of the six seats they competed for.)
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded to Abbott with his own redistricting effort, winning popular support through a vote on Prop 50 to remap California and add potentially five seats in a state where Democrats already hold 43 of California’s 52 seats. California Republicans pushed their fight against Prop 50 to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in January denied an emergency request to stop implementation of the new maps. Now a recent SCOTUS decision limiting the Voting Rights Act is being interpreted by some Republicans as opening a new door to challenge Newsom’s victory.