By Megan Cullins, contributor
This article has been updated.
With 51%, Virginia voters passed the constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to draw new congressional districts, which will mean big changes for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County in the November elections.
But late Wednesday, a Tazewell County Circuit Court judge issued a ruling halting any new maps, placing the issue into the hands of Virginia’s court system, as the Virginian Mercury reported.
If the Democratic-controlled Virginia legislature’s proposed new maps ultimately take effect, Harrisonburg would remain part of the 6th District, along with a piece of southern Rockingham County. But instead of the 6th District covering the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester to Roanoke, the new district would shift east from Roanoke to include Lynchburg and up to Albemarle County and Charlottesville. Under the new maps, a bulk of Rockingham County will be in the 7th District, while the northern part that includes Broadway will be in the new 11th District.
Both the 7th and 11th districts stretch to the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and now are more favorable districts for Democrats, while the current 6th District lines, which took effect earlier this decade, is a reliably Republican district.
In all, 10 of the 11 new congressional districts voted for on April 21 tend to favor Democratic candidates.
Among those who supported the constitutional amendment to temporarily divert from the redistricting process to allow for the new maps was former House of Delegates candidate Andrew Payton. He and others campaigned for voters to say “yes” to the new maps as a response to President Donald Trump’s urging of Republican-led states, like Texas, to redraw their maps to be more favorable to Republicans.
“Virginia voted to protect our neighbors by standing up to the abuses and corruption of the Trump administration,” Payton said. “I’m excited that the valley is one step closer to having representation that cares about the challenges facing working families.”
Results show that in Harrisonburg, nearly 65% of voters voted “yes,” while in Rockingham County about 75% voted “no.”
Many of those who opposed the amendment argued that it diminished Republicans’ representation in Congress, especially in rural areas that are heavily conservative.
“Many in the Republican Party believe passage of this amendment will result in a loss of voice and representation” said Daryl Borgquist, committee spokesperson for the Rockingham County Republicans.
As for the candidates who are running in the 6th District, they have a new challenge ahead to meet voters in areas that the 6th District hadn’t touched.
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello of Charlottesville, who has been preparing to run in the new version of the 6th District if Virginia voters approved the constitutional amendment, touted the outcome in a press release Wednesday morning that included a list of prominent Democrats who have endorsed him.
“Folks around here can agree on one thing – we are paying way too much for gas, groceries and healthcare. It’s time to fire congressmen like Ben Cline who jacked up costs to protect the corrupt,” Perriello said in a statement. “I’ve held hundreds of listening sessions across the Blue Ridge, and families deserve a representative who will fight to get costs down, paychecks up, and common sense back in the driver’s seat.”
“Yesterday Virginian’s voices were heard in support of the temporary redistricting to level the playing field for the midterm elections” said congressional candidate Ken Mitchell in a statement to The Citizen. “I fully support the decision Virginians made and not having politicians deciding their future. This is a good day for Virginia and a good day for our democracy.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, who has represented the 6th District in Congress since 2018, had not released a statement as of noon Wednesday.
People turned out through early voting and on Election Day. One poll worker at Stone Spring Elementary School mentioned that they had already seen about 200 people before noon.
“It’s kind of sentimental to see people from all walks of life being able to have their voice heard in a public way,” said Democratic congressional candidate Pete Barlow. “It’s kind of one of the only ways in which we can ensure that everybody gets to have their voice heard, which is really special.”
Opposition to the referendum posted yard signs saying “end gerrymandering” and “no rigged maps.”
“A lot of people on the conservative side are afraid of not being heard, of their voices being drowned out. And a lot of Democrats are afraid of the national picture of what Trump is doing to our party in our country,” Barlow said. “What people need to hear right now is it’s all going to be okay. They have to have faith and they have to have hope for a better tomorrow, because if we don’t have hope, we’ve given up already.”
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