Follow WTOP’s team coverage of the 2026 Virginia redistricting referendum online, on air at 103.5 FM or on the WTOP News app.
Tuesday’s special election in Virginia has drawn national attention as both parties look for any edge in the battle for control of the U.S. House.
The statewide referendum asks voters whether the General Assembly should redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of this fall’s midterms.
Democrats argue they’re simply responding to similar mid-decade redistricting efforts in several Republican led states.
If the proposed amendment passes and survives legal challenges, Democrats could gain an advantage in as many as 10 of the state’s 11 seats in the House.
Republicans have called it an unconstitutional and unfair power grab. Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the amendment’s wording “misleading” in a recent interview with WTOP.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has joined fellow Democrats in pressing voters to support the newly redrawn maps.
WTOP anchor Nick Iannelli spoke with Jeffries ahead of Tuesday’s special election.
Read and listen to the interview below:
The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
- Nick Iannelli:
You’ve been out traveling around Virginia lately. Where have you gone?
- Hakeem Jeffries:
I’ve had the opportunity to campaign in the Charlottesville area, as well as in the Richmond area, participating in canvas launches, attending church services and speaking at rallies on behalf of the upcoming “Vote Yes” effort in connection with redistricting in Virginia.
The people of the Commonwealth of Virginia understand that the stakes are high and that it is necessary for us to be able to level the playing field and stop the MAGA power grab that Donald Trump has undertaken throughout the nation.
- Nick Iannelli:
The crowds for your rallies have been relatively small, and not just your rallies, but on the Republican side, too. When you guys go out and talk about this, the crowds are small, like 100/200 people. What does that say to you about voter enthusiasm and voter engagement on this?
- Hakeem Jeffries:
It’s my understanding that the early vote turnout has been record-breaking in many parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which I think speaks to the enthusiasm and excitement that exists to push back against MAGA extremism.
From the standpoint of the canvas launches that I participated in, those were very robust and enthusiastic crowds compared to the type of canvas launches that I’m typically involved in throughout other parts of the country.
- Nick Iannelli:
This is a controversial issue everywhere, but in Virginia, it’s even a bit more prickly, because in 2020, voters clearly said they wanted this redistricting process to be bipartisan. Voters in Virginia voted 65% to 34% for the bipartisan redistricting commission that would draw these districts.
This is something that former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has been saying. He told WTOP, “These efforts to redistrict a map that was drawn by an independent commission approved by a constitutional amendment by Virginians, is wrong. We should stand by our vote … where an overwhelming number of Virginians, two thirds, voted for an independent commission.”
So now you’re in Virginia saying that the process should not be bipartisan, at least for now. How do you square that with the voters who have already made their voices heard on this?
- Hakeem Jeffries:
The map that voters will have an opportunity to weigh in on April 21 will create some additional competitive opportunities throughout the commonwealth that can be won by both Democrats and Republicans.
The “Vote Yes” effort is to stop the MAGA power grab. Donald Trump launched an unprecedented effort to gerrymander the national congressional map as part of his scheme to rig the midterm elections. That’s completely and totally unacceptable.
It’s the people of Virginia who should decide what the national congressional map looks like, not Donald Trump and his extremists.
- Nick Iannelli:
But it could be argued that Virginia voters did decide on this in 2020 when they voted for a bipartisan redistricting commission to draw these boundaries.
- Hakeem Jeffries :
The voters of Virginia are now being given an opportunity to decide what is the appropriate response at this moment in time, in 2026, to the MAGA power grab and the effort by Donald Trump to continue to jam extreme policies down the throats of the American people that the American people reject.
At the end of the day, the policies being put forward by Donald Trump in terms of the economy, health care and this reckless, costly war of choice have failed the people of Virginia; yet Donald Trump wants to be able to continue these policies by gerrymandering a national congressional map and stealing the midterm election. That’s completely and totally unacceptable.
Unlike what Republicans have done in states throughout the country, including Texas, North Carolina and Missouri — where their state legislative bodies change the congressional map in the dead of night, without giving the voters an opportunity to participate — here in Virginia, it’s the voters who will ultimately decide whether Donald Trump should decide what the national congressional map looks like, or whether the people of Virginia should have the ability to decide what their representation looks like in the next Congress.
- Nick Iannelli:
Speaking of the next Congress, I think you’re the perfect person to ask about this because polling shows that Democrats are going to have maybe landslide victories in the midterms. Things are not looking good for Republicans.
Setting redistricting aside, it’s looking like Democrats are going to have sizable victories in the midterms. So if Democrats are going to win the midterms, regardless, why even get involved in this redistricting effort?
- Hakeem Jeffries :
We cannot assume anything given the extraordinary effort that Republicans launched to gerrymander the national congressional map. By their own admission, Republicans were trying to swing between 12 and 15 seats in their direction by gerrymandering in the middle of the decade in ways never before seen in the history of the country. It was their expectation that Democrats were just going to take a step back and let it happen.
We’ve concluded, on behalf of the American people, not to take a step back, but to fight back for fair national maps, so that it’s the American people who ultimately decide what the majority looks like in the next Congress, and not MAGA extremists.
- Nick Iannelli:
Looking at the polling for this, it’s showing about a five-point edge for your side, the “yes” vote. That’s pretty close. Is that closer than you would have expected it to be?
- Hakeem Jeffries :
It’s my expectation that this race is going to be very close, down to the wire, and every vote is going to count, which is why we’re going to continue to run through the finish line and urge the people of Virginia who want fair, competitive maps to vote “yes,” to level the playing field and stop the MAGA power grab.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
