Ed wrote about the decision by the Virginia Supreme Court earlier today. The bottom line is that, after much effort by Democras from Barack Obama on down, the court says they violated the established procedure for changing the state constitution, which required two votes with an election in between them.
Democrats celebrated this relatively narrow win of the referendum when it passed, often with stuff like this:
FAFO. https://t.co/L1cbuh1bf7
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 22, 2026
So today, as they see it being overturned, they are losing what little was left of their minds. Here's Hakeem Jeffries denouncing the VA court and the Supreme Court all at once, because why not.
The decision by the Virginia Supreme Court to overturn the will of more than three million voters will not stand. pic.twitter.com/ZtayVJRw4T
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) May 8, 2026
It's true that 3 million people voted but he didn't mention that 1.5 million of them were against this plan. Presumably they aren't unhappy about today's result.
As for his promise that the decision will not stand, he doesn't say what that means. This is a state Supreme Court which has the final say over Virginia law. So what is his plan exactly?
Creepy Virginia AG Jay Jones, who was elected despite wishing to murder his Republican opponents and their children, also put out a statement claiming the Va Supreme Court had put politics over the law.
(½) Today the Supreme Court of Virginia has chosen to put politics over the rule of law by issuing a ruling that overturns the April 21st special election on redistricting.
— Attorney General Jay Jones (@AGJayJones) May 8, 2026
Call me crazy but it seems to me this is exactly the opposite of what the VA Supreme Court did. They ruled that the political enthusiasm for redistricting did now allow state democrats to violate the existing state law about how to make changes to the state's constitution. This change to the state constitution was necessary because Virginia's non-partisan redistricting plan was already written into the constitution.
Lawmakers are required pass a constitutional amendment through two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between before placing it on the ballot. Republicans argued that the Democratic-controlled legislature first passed the amendment when early voting was already underway ahead of Virginia’s 2025 statewide elections. Democrats tried to counter by saying that Election Day itself, not the start of early voting, is the relevant date...
Democrats’ argument that early voting was not part of the intervening election was unconvincing, [Justice Arthur] Kelsey wrote in the majority opinion.
“Under this thesis, early Virginia voters unknowingly forfeited their constitutionally protected opportunity to vote for or against delegates who favor or disfavor amending the Constitution by not anticipating a legislative vote on a constitutional amendment four days before the last day of voting,” the opinion said.
Getting back to the left's meltdown, Hasan Piker suggests revolution is coming.
the va supreme court denied the results of the redistricting referendum. scotus gutted the voting rights act and tennessee carved up the last dem district destroying black voter power in the state.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 8, 2026
those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable https://t.co/Ul1nW2oz29
Gavin Newsom says the system is rigged!
No vote in Tennessee (+1 GOP)
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 8, 2026
No vote in Florida (+4 GOP)
No vote in Missouri (+1 GOP)
No vote in North Carolina (+2 GOP)
No vote in Texas (+5 GOP)
Virginia’s voter-approved maps thrown out.
MAGA has rigged the system.
By the way, he's lying. There was a vote in Tennessee. There was a vote in Florida. There was a vote in Missouri. There was a vote in North Carolina. There was a vote in Texas. In fact, you probably remember that one because Democrats fled the state for a few weeks last year to avoid it.
I think what Newsom is trying to claim here is that there wasn't a referendum vote like the one in Virginia. The five red states he lists held a vote in the state assembly and senate to change their maps. Virginia required a referendum because redistricting meant changing the state constitution. But there was a vote in every case.
All the usual suspects are furious.
So the Virginia Supreme Court is as full of shit as the US Supreme Court
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) May 8, 2026
I'm so fucking mad right now
Alleged journalists who are supposed to know how to gather relevant information are instead just lashing out in ignorance.
Trump gets to redraw maps in his states but the Democrats cannot do the same? What is happening to our democracy? https://t.co/9GaemRAEIJ
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 8, 2026
Sen. Tim Kaine questions the timing, i.e. why didn't the state supreme court do something sooner?
My statement on the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn a free and fair constitutional amendment referendum to redraw congressional districts in Virginia: pic.twitter.com/6EtFl8R31W
— Senator Tim Kaine (@SenTimKaine) May 8, 2026
There's an answer to this question too and Democrats aren't going to like it.
VA Dems argued the court can't rule on the validity of the process for the proposed partisan gerrymander until after the referendum, assuming that the court would be reluctant to intervene if it passed.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 8, 2026
They gambled the entire scheme on that wrong assumption. https://t.co/RB6G0byuHL
Here it is. Dems demanded the court stay out of it.
They did this to themselves.
And finally, here's the governor. She sounds more moderate than a lot of the others, possibly because she just saw this plan blow up in her face and knows she'll now have to explain why to a lot of angry people.
More than three million Virginians cast their ballots in Virginia’s redistricting referendum, and the majority of Virginia voters voted to push back against a President who said he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress with a temporary and responsive referendum. They…
— Governor Abigail Spanberger (@GovernorVA) May 8, 2026
There are many more outraged reactions but you may notice that most of them seem to lean heavily on people's ignorance of why this happened. The message isn't where did we go wrong?, the message is everything is rigged and unfair! Better to have the base's anger directed at Republicans for this failure than at themselves, I guess.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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