Virginia Democrats have apparently filed a redistricting appeal to the wrong Supreme Court, stirring criticism in their contentious battle over legislative district boundaries in the state.
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares was quick to point out the blunder online, recalling past mistakes made by Democrats, including misspellings of Virginia in legal documents. “Good news: Democrats were able to spell Virginia correctly,” he quipped on social media. “Bad news. They sent their emergency application to SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) to the wrong court.” He added, “Baby steps,” in a sarcastic tone.
Interestingly, Virginia lawmakers labeled the emergency petition as being directed to the “Virginia Supreme Court” instead of the U.S. Supreme Court, as evidenced by an image of the document shared by Miyares. He also noted a previous mistake where Democrats misspelled “Senator” in the same document.
This latest mistake comes at a time when Democrats are grappling with recent rulings that nullified a set of new maps meant to favor them in the upcoming midterm elections. The desire to take this gerrymandering issue to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) underscores their ongoing struggle, particularly since the revised map could eliminate several Republican-leaning districts.
The Virginia Supreme Court recently ruled that Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger acted improperly by rushing through a constitutional amendment aimed at temporarily lifting the state-level ban on gerrymandering. The court found that her redistricting efforts bypassed the requirement for any constitutional amendment to be endorsed by two sessions of the Virginia General Assembly before facing a statewide vote. Crucially, those sessions must involve elections as a significant, separating factor.
By the time the referendum reached the General Assembly last year, early voting for the 2025 elections had already started. Consequently, the court determined that the consideration of this amendment did not meet the necessary separation by a full election, making it untenable.
Now, Virginia is appealing to the Supreme Court to review state law, claiming it “inexcusably departs from the normal scope of judicial review.” When the issue will actually be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court remains uncertain.
