Spanberger faces ‘bait-and-switch’ backlash in final hours before redistricting referendum

By Fox News · Fox News

Opponents of Virginia Democrats’ redistricting referendum are accusing Gov. Abigail Spanberger of a "bait and switch," pointing to her campaign-trail pledge of "no plans" to redraw the state's congressional map ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Former Virginia Govs. George Allen and Glenn Youngkin, along with a slew of top conservatives, have opposed the effort, which would redraw the commonwealth’s 6-5 Democratic map to a 10-1 map crafted by Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and backed by Spanberger. "Behold the great bait and switch," Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, said, sharing a screenshot of October reporting highlighting Spanberger’s apparent pledge not to support what she now is vocally behind. "Vote No," said Webert, whose district forms a boundary between the Washington, D.C., suburbs set to accrue political power if the referendum passes and the hundreds of miles of rural expanse south and west that are poised to lose their voice. SOROS-BACKED GROUP AMONG LIBERAL ORGS PUMPING EYE-POPPING CASH INTO VIRGINIA GERRYMANDERING EFFORT The latter is a major concern for U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, a Botetourt Republican whose district runs from Roanoke to the northernmost West Virginia line at Berryville along the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, which Cline said stand to lose their otherwise homogenous voice in Washington. Cline told Fox News Digital how Spanberger was previously a colleague on the House Agriculture Committee and "loved to talk about her connection to Virginia agriculture." "My district is currently the most agriculture-based district in Virginia and she has chopped it into five different districts and parceled it out to Northern Virginia Democrats to use to make their numbers work," he said, adding that the referendum is offensive to Virginia farmers in particular. In separate comments to "Ruthless", Cline expounded on that point, saying the people of his current district stand to lose their voice because they will be split into five…