A consequential vote on Tuesday in Virginia will determine the fate of the state’s congressional map, as Democrats seek to level the playing field in a political redistricting battle launched by President Donald Trump to keep control of Congress next year.
Black voters, who will be crucial in Democrats’ efforts to temporarily redraw Virginia’s map, have been strategically targeted by Republicans with what Democrats and advocates called misleading propaganda harkening back to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, when Black activists were beaten, bloodied, and, in some cases, killed for the right to vote.
On Tuesday’s ballot is the Democratic-backed referendum, which would allow the Virginia General Assembly to conduct mid-decade redistricting to give Democrats up to 4 additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Virginia ballot measure seeks to push back against a similar move in Texas last year, where districts with traditionally Democratic voters who are majority Black and Hispanic were diluted, at the demand of President Trump, to give Republicans a five-seat advantage. If adopted, the Virginia map would expire in 2030 ahead of the next midterm elections.
Democratic strategist Joel Payne says the stakes are high for Democrats and the Black communities—who have the highest unemployment rates and are disproportionately struggling in America’s affordability crisis—that have suffered under Trump’s presidency.
“If anyone wants to make the argument that the interests of Black people have been served by Donald Trump and by his attempt to grab power, like, be my guest. There is little evidence that Black folks and Black interests have been met and have been satiated by the first 16 months of Donald Trump’s second term and by what he promises to do if he continues to centralize and illegally grab power and illicitly grab power in a way that people did not intend for,” Payne tells theGrio.
Typically, maps are drawn every decade and are based on current Census population counts. Trump’s unprecedented demand that Republicans in states like North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, and Florida redraw maps mid-decade in their own favor is expected to backfire, with Virginia serving as a major foil to the president’s plan.
Svante Myrick, president and CEO of People For the American Way, a longtime progressive advocacy group, notes the historical irony that Virginia is a former Confederate state, where Black voters on Tuesday will be a “crucial voting block to determine the future of the entire country.”
“The nation’s eyes are on Virginia tonight,” he tells theGrio. Myrick added, “This measure in Virginia, if passed, will protect Black voters and give all voters a fair shot at representation. This is truly a battle for the right for voters to pick their politicians instead of politicians just picking their voters.”
In Virginia, Black residents are staunchly Democratic voters. According to a poll conducted by Virginia State University, Black Virginians “continue to anchor Virginia’s Democratic coalition,” delivering nearly 95% of their support to newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger, who became the state’s first female governor.
Black voters are so critical to Tuesday’s vote that some of the party’s most prominent Black leaders, including former President Barack Obama and neighboring Maryland Governor Wes Moore, have come out to campaign in support of the referendum.
Virginia, if you haven’t done it already, make a plan to vote YES on the redistricting referendum.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 17, 2026
You can vote early by April 18 or on Election Day, April 21. Find your polling place at https://t.co/vsawTNnoax. pic.twitter.com/NiCTBpS10I
“By voting yes, you have a chance to do something important, not just for the Commonwealth, but for our entire country. By voting yes, you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms,” Obama said in a PSA released on Friday. “By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field, and we’re counting on you.”
Governor Moore, while speaking at a Black church in Virginia, pointed to the Black community’s past disenfranchisement to highlight the stakes of Tuesday’s vote.
“This is an assault on a right that our ancestors fought for…an assault that is a direct attack on the heart of a democracy that those who came before us lived, bled and died to protect, an assault on a right that should be guaranteed for all, and not just some,” Moore, a rumored 2028 presidential hopeful, said to applause.
Calling out President Trump’s executive actions without naming him directly, the Maryland governor said, “An individual should not be able to pick if this great experiment continues on or not…we do have certain people who, right now, as we speak, are trying to gut the Voting Rights Act and conduct what will be the greatest act of political redlining that this country has seen in generations.”
He continued, “Certain people are trying to nationalize elections and place federal agents to guard ballot boxes, to ‘stop fraud,’ even when they know that is a direct act of voter suppression.”
Moore told the room of Black voters, “You will have a chance to make your voice heard. You will have a chance to ensure fair maps in this election. And the whole country is watching.”
Ironically, Republican-backed groups also sought to use the Civil Rights era to persuade Black voters to vote against Tuesday’s referendum. As theGrio previously reported, Black households in Virginia received mailers that read, “Just like Jim Crow, they want to silence your voice.” The mailers included images of Black Americans being terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and law enforcement during the reign of Jim Crow in the segregated South and the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.
The move by Republicans was slammed by Black Democrats in Virginia, including House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott, who said the mailers were intended to “trick Black people,” calling the move a “shameful” and “embarrassing.” He asserted, “The civil rights movement is not a prop.”
Ultimately, advocates say, the battle over maps comes down to President Trump and Republicans trying to avoid accountability from voters, who largely disapprove of their handling of the economy and other national and international issues.
“This vote is about more than maps, it is about whether Virginians will hold extremist leaders accountable for the high gas prices, skyrocketing healthcare costs, the cost of living, and attacks on our democracy,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. “The Trump administration has tried to rewrite our history, cut public education, erase civil rights protections, and fire thousands of federal workers. And now they want to weaken our votes.”
The civil rights leader added, “The NAACP will not stand by while Trump and his allies seek to reshape the role of government to serve the wealthy few. Virginia is our line in the sand, and we will hold it.”
