Tuesday, April 21, students at the College of William and Mary voted alongside other Virginians in the state special election to determine whether to change the state’s constitution to allow for congressional redistricting. Virginians narrowly approved the referendum, increasing the current number of six Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to 10. The number of Republican seats decreased from five to one.
In James City County, with over 95% of votes counted, 38,779 total Virginians cast their ballots. The county had a +0.68 margin toward “Yes.” Meanwhile, in York County, 29,280 residents voted, with a +11.78 margin toward “No.”
The Associated Press called the race in Virginia just before 9 p.m., and the choice “Yes” won by 51.68%.
Multiple figureheads of the Democratic Party — such as former President Barack Obama and state Gov. Abigail Spanberger D.P.S. ’26 — encouraged voter turnout. This election came after President Donald Trump began gerrymandering last summer when he encouraged Texas to redraw districts so the Republicans could win several additional House seats. This began a trend in other states, leading to the voter approval last week of Virginia’s new map.
After the election results, the Virginia Supreme Court began considering blocking the new map approved by voters. The justices questioned whether the state’s legislature, which is led by Democrats, adhered to constitutional requirements when it sent a congressional redistricting plan to voters.
Despite spring elections often not recording popular turnout, this election saw a raw vote total of about 3.06 million. This is only 10.6% lower than the turnout at the 2025 gubernatorial race, which had 54.31% turnout.
