Following the 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court's 4 Republicans-in-robes to negate the referendum that voters passed to give Democrats an edge in Virginia's Congressional makeup to fight back in the Malignant Fascist's gerrymandering war, Democrats are saying it's not over until it's over:
Virginia Democrats on Friday asked the state Supreme Court for a stay on its ruling that threw out last month’s referendum on redistricting in the commonwealth, signaling plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The state, Virginia’s House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D) and others filed a joint motion asking the state Supreme Court to “delay issuing its mandate” on the referendum, according to a copy obtained by The Hill. It also stated that they plan to file an emergency petition to the nation’s highest court.
“Today’s action is an imperative step in the process we promised to pursue to explore every available option to restore the will of the voters. We will continue moving through that process deliberately, responsibly, and with full respect for the voters who made their voices heard,” said Rae Pickett, spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D), in a statement shared with The Hill.
The Virginia court on Friday had issued a ruling that quashed a new map, narrowly approved by voters in a referendum last month, that would have given Democrats as many as four new pickup opportunities ahead of the midterms.
The decision is a setback for Democrats as they fight to flip the House this fall and offset expected gains from GOP-friendly redistricting in other red states across the country.
“Virginia voters were with us! This is not the time to despair — this is the time to keep fighting. Keep your head up and keep moving forward. One battle at a time, one fight after another. We’ve come too far to stop now,” Scott had said on X after the ruling.
Jones had said in a release earlier on Friday that his team was “carefully reviewing this unprecedented order” and “evaluating every legal pathway forward to defend the will of the people and protect the integrity of Virginia’s elections.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called the decision “an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand,” and vowed that “we are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision.”
It takes a fair amount of "hopium" to think that the white nationalist Republican hacks on the U.S. Supreme Court, who just nuked what was left of the Voting Rights Act in order to eliminate a number of (mostly Southern) black-majority Congressional districts, will step in and save the referendum passed by Virginia's voters. The best outcome may be that these "back to Jim Crow" rulings and subsequent rush to disenfranchise Democratic voters will only serve to amp up turnout in the upcoming mid-terms. Small solace for those of us who remember when voting rights were being expanded and believed the past abuses of the Jim Crow era were forever behind us. Silly us.
UPDATED: Quinn Yeargain at Downballot has a solution.
(Image: via CNN)
> It takes a fair amount of "hopium" to think that the white nationalist Republican hacks on the U.S. Supreme Court, who just nuked what was left of the Voting Rights Act in order to eliminate a number of (mostly Southern) black-majority Congressional districts, will step in and save the referendum passed by Virginia's voters.
ReplyDeleteThe Virginia court ruled based on the state constitution so I doubt even a relatively impartial federal court would intervene.