Virginia has suddenly taken center stage in the national redistricting wars as Old Dominion Democrats attempt to seize map-making powers back from a nonpartisan redistricting commission that voters approved in 2020. But while liberals croon that their gerrymandering crusade is about “protecting democracy,” the proposed maps highlight a disturbing story about rigging democracy through demographic change.
When looking at the hypothetical new congressional map that would scrap the Commonwealth’s current 6-5 Democrat-Republican split in favor of a likely 10-1 Democrat gerrymander, the first thing that becomes immediately apparent is the immense influence of Northern Virginia (NOVA). Five of the proposed new districts are anchored in densely populated and deeply liberal NOVA before snaking out to gobble up Republican votes in the Shenandoah Valley and other rural areas.
The new map underscores the new political reality in Virginia: NOVA dominates. The state’s shift from Republican stronghold to purple battleground to now becoming a safe haven for Democrats has been almost entirely driven by a population explosion in NOVA. As one commentator noted on X, Republicans controlled nearly half of the state legislative seats based in NOVA as recently as 2015. Now, they control zero.
But this political restructuring has less to do with internal migration and more to do with the mass importation of voters from abroad – part of an intentional strategy by Democrats to weaponize immigration to rig the game against Republicans. In many parts of NOVA, more than a quarter of the population is foreign-born – a trend that has coincided with growing Democrat dominance.
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