Virginia lawmakers advanced a new congressional redistricting plan as part of the state budget bill, prompting criticism from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who said the proposal would produce a congressional delegation heavily tilted toward Democrats despite closer statewide election results.
The House of Delegates approved amendments to the budget bill, HB29, that include a proposed congressional map, according to the Virginia Legislative Information System. Legislative records show the amendments were adopted on a 63–34 vote on Feb. 9.
In a post on Cruz’s social media, he called the proposal “a brazen abuse of power and an insult to democracy,” arguing it would distort representation relative to recent statewide voting patterns.
“47% of VA voted Trump. They will now get just 9% of the seats,” Cruz wrote. “52% of VA voters voted Harris. Now they get 91% of the seats.”
A brazen abuse of power & an insult to democracy.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 6, 2026
47% of VA voted Trump. They will now get just 9% of the seats.
52% of VA voters voted Harris. Now they get 91% of the seats.
(By comparison, in TX, 56% voted Trump; GOP gets 79% of the seats.) https://t.co/tK1avgRW9N
After Cruz’s criticism, Sen. Louise Lucas responded on social media, saying Republicans had initiated the redistricting dispute and Virginia had acted in response. She wrote, “You all started it and we [expletive] finished it.”
You all started it and we fucking finished it. https://t.co/JU3IR4eEHt
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) February 7, 2026
Democratic leaders in Virginia said the map was intended to respond to Republican-led redistricting efforts in other states ahead of the 2026 elections.
Lucas announced in a video posted earlier this week that Virginia had reached what she described as a “10–1 redistricting agreement,” which she said was meant to “level the playing field.” In the video, Lucas said former President Donald Trump had urged Republican-controlled states to seek additional congressional seats.
“We made a promise to level the playing field, and today we’re keeping our promise,” Lucas said in the video.
Virginia has reached a 10-1 redistricting agreement. This moment reflects commitment to fair representation for communities across the Commonwealth and our nation. pic.twitter.com/lqS9IuwJzr
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) February 5, 2026
House Speaker Don Scott said Republicans were drawing maps in other states to gain an advantage in future elections.
“Across the country, Republicans are gerrymandering maps to override the will of the voters,” Scott said in the same video. “At Donald Trump’s direction, they’re manipulating election maps because they know they can’t win on their agenda in 2026.”
Scott said the proposed map would be released publicly for debate and review. “We’re going to leave it up to Virginia voters,” he said.
The congressional map is included in HB29, the state’s budget bill, which amends prior appropriations law and contains links to the proposed map, data tables and geographic files, according to the bill summary.
Critics have also circulated a 2019 post from Spanberger in which she said gerrymandering “is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates,” adding that opposing the practice “should be a bipartisan priority.”
This is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority. https://t.co/yNj1karxHk
— Abigail Spanberger (@SpanbergerForVA) June 17, 2019
Redistricting has become a renewed point of contention nationally, with both parties accusing the other of drawing maps to secure political advantage ahead of future elections.
