It’s not really surprising to anyone who pays attention to the state of the Democratic Party. They’ve backed Senate candidate Graham “Nazi Tattoo” Platner, supported drastic pediatric procedures for the sake of transgender issues, and some even celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So, knowing all that, is it really shocking that there’s a plan to eliminate the entire state supreme court?
Yeah, you know, there seems to be this repeated cycle of Hmm, norms! Hmm, norms! and Ah, democracy! Ah, democracy! Here we go again.
Virginia Democrats have, essentially, bypassed the state constitution by pushing for a referendum to redraw congressional districts after gaining complete control of state government. This came after winning the governor’s office, along with majorities in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate. Before this shift, Virginia had a mix of six Democratic and five Republican House districts. Given that President Trump garnered 46% of the vote in 2024, this setup was fairly reasonable.
The proposed redistricting plan would flip four of the five Republican districts into Democratic ones. Just like that, a 6-5 Democratic majority turns into a 10-1 advantage for Democrats.
The whole thing feels pretty underhanded. Just a few years back, in 2020, Virginia voters overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment aimed at creating a bipartisan commission to handle the drawing of congressional districts. This was supposed to be the way forward.
Fast forward to 2025…
In what seems like a blatant power grab, newly elected Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger (who had promised no redistricting) and Democratic lawmakers are pushing to amend the state constitution. They want to discard the 2020 amendment, allowing the Democratic-led legislature to draw districts, which gives them a 10-to-1 advantage that doesn’t reflect the actual demographics of the state.
That referendum was narrowly passed in late April with just over 51% of the vote. So, the Democratic Party came out on top.
Here’s the kicker…
The state constitution outlines specific processes for proposing constitutional changes. Changes must be approved by the General Assembly in two sessions, with an election in between. This is intended to give voters a chance to weigh in on proposed amendments.
However, during the first vote to propose the redistricting changes on October 31, 2025, Virginia’s absurd 45-day early voting period was well underway. At that point, 40% of eligible voters had already cast their ballots for the November 4 election, and the amendment was left out of the voting process.
This was clearly a breach of the constitution, and just last week, the state Supreme Court rightfully overturned the referendum with a 4-3 decision.
Not unexpectedly, today Democracy is no good, norms are no good, democracy is no good Democrats are actively considering a bill to get rid of the entire current state Supreme Court by lowering the retirement age from 75 to 54.
Why 54? Well, that happens to be the age of the court’s youngest member.
The idea seems to be to then install new justices who will support the referendum.
But wait, it gets worse…
Do you remember that 2020 constitutional amendment that was supposed to create a bipartisan redistricting commission, which voters approved by a 2-1 margin? Democrats are now thinking about scrapping that amendment entirely to create a 10-1 map instead.
It seems like Democrats can’t secure wins without resorting to less-than-honest tactics.
This situation illustrates the so-called “tyranny of the majority.” One of the main reasons the founders of America opted for a republic, rather than pure democracy, was to protect the minority. In a strictly democratic system, a slim majority could impose severe measures against a minority. The structure was designed to ensure that the rights of that minority—like Virginia’s 46% Republican delegation in 2024—are safeguarded.
