Virginia Dems flip on gerrymandering, blame Trump for redistricting reversal
Virginia Democrats who once championed redistricting reform are now drafting a constitutional amendment to let them redraw the state’s U.S. House district maps — a reversal critics say undermines their...
By Fox News · Fox News
Virginia Democrats who once championed redistricting reform are now drafting a constitutional amendment to let them redraw the state’s U.S. House district maps — a reversal critics say undermines their own 2020 push for an independent commission. The legislature reconvened in a special session in Richmond this week, where Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas sparred with critics on X, ripped former President Donald Trump and mocked Republicans with a GIF of herself dancing to Famous Dex’s "Hoes Mad." Lucas, of Portsmouth, previously heralded the state’s successful Democrat-led 2020 effort to create an independent redistricting commission to draw decennial legislative maps – but claimed more recently that Trump was to blame for her change of heart. "These pieces of enabling legislation create a complete redistricting package to work alongside the historic constitutional amendment," Lucas said at the time, calling the original plan a populist, "equitable, transparent and bipartisan process." TEXAS GOP LAWMAKERS POISED TO FINALIZE TRUMP-BACKED MAP AFTER DEM REDISTRICTING WALKOUT ENDS Critics on X locked on to her and other Democrats’ past support for the redistricting commission, with one writing that "Louise doesn’t care about democracy." More than two-thirds of voters approved the original commission at the ballot box, as one critic quipped that Lucas "now wants to throw all those votes in the trash." "No Kings (Or Queens) Amirite?" the critic quipped. Lucas retweeted the critic, and blamed Trump for her apparent flip-flop: "Yep, that would be correct! Did you not read my previous post? When D. Trump pushed for Texas to redistrict prior to the midterms, all of that went right out the window," Lucas said. "So you can bet your a-- that Democrats are ready for this fight ," she said, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin repeatedly decried the maneuver as a power grab, and Virginia’s entire federal Republican delegation convened in Richmond to speak out against it. FORMER DEM…