Virginia’s map war lays bare state's sharp partisan turn as legal fight looms

By Fox News · Fox News

Virginia ’s redistricting fight is racing toward the state’s highest court after a county judge blocked certification of a narrowly approved ballot measure on Wednesday that would dramatically reshape the state's congressional map in favor of Democrats and potentially impact control of Congress. Longtime Del. Terry Kilgore, the Republican leader of the Virginia House, told Fox News Digital state Democrats unlawfully forced through the mid-decade redraw to give themselves a 10-1 advantage, saying he was "irritated" by what he viewed as unprecedented partisanship. "This is Virginia. We normally get along, normally go through things the right way," Kilgore said. "I've been here over 30 years. … I've never seen anything like this so partisan since I've been here, and it was a very sad day for the Commonwealth." He noted the pressure the state Supreme Court, which leans slightly conservative, is now under to address the polarizing election issue, saying he believed it would be struck down. APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST VIRGINIA'S EFFORT TO BLOCK RE-INSTATEMENT OF SUSPECTED NONCITIZENS TO VOTER ROLLS "I think if they follow the law, they will definitely strike this down and have it null and void, so we're optimistic," Kilgore said. More than three million Virginians turned out to vote on the high-profile, multimillion-dollar redistricting effort, approving it on April 21 by a slim margin of 51.5% to 48.5%, which Kilgore said was representative of Virginia's purple, rather than blue, political landscape. "They thought we were going to lose by 15 points, and that would make their argument that Virginia is a 10-1 state," Kilgore said. "Of course it was like at 2% and that shows you how close Virginia really is, that we are a 6-5 state, and we actually won some of the districts that they have redrawn. This is just a power grab. That's all you can say, a power grab by the national Democrats." OBAMA ENDORSES VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT COULD HELP DEMS GA…