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Virginia Democrat: ‘All options on the table’ after redistricting state Supreme Court decision

by Ashleigh Fields - 05/10/26 3:57 PM ET

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by Ashleigh Fields - 05/10/26 3:57 PM ET

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Virginia Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D) on Sunday said “all options” are on the table for Democrats in the Old Dominion State as they respond to a ruling from the state Supreme Court striking their redistricting measure.

The decision immediately eliminates four House seats that were expected to flip to the Democrats in midterm elections, while leaving Republicans the possibility of netting between six and seven seats they would have otherwise lost, according to analysts at the Cook Political Report.

“I think the General Assembly is going to look at all options on the table, including trying again for the constitutional amendment. But I’m focused on the political fight,” McClellan said of Virginia Democrats during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”

“I am focused on making sure that this November we pick up as many of these seats in Virginia as possible, no matter what the ultimate map looks like, and that we fight against what the Jim Crow South is doing to dilute black voters and eliminate black representation so that they can get a Republican Congress, because they know the only way they can win is not on the merits of their ideas and actions, but by rigging these maps,” she added.

Democrats have decried the state ruling in Virginia, as well as the recent Supreme Court ruling they consider a blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The high court determined Louisiana’s second majority Black district was unconstitutional, making it more difficult for advocacy groups to justify redistricting efforts aimed at protecting the voting power of minority groups.

McClellan and her colleagues have vowed to fight efforts to weaken diversity across the country’s electorate and to sustain voting power for minorities.

“We’re going to fight every way possible, whether that’s through the courts, whether that’s through legislatures or whether that’s at the ballot box,” the Virginia Democrat told host Chris Stirewalt.

“We’re going to jump over, under, through any obstacle that they throw our way,” she added.

McClellan said Democrats could consider building stronger coalitions to preserve the integrity of the electoral process.

“I think that Democrats need to make sure that minority voters, be they Black, Latino or language minorities, have the opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. That is what the Voting Rights Act stood for. That is what the 14th and 15th Amendment, frankly, stand for. And that is a Democratic value,” she told Stirewalt.

“Now, if that means that we need to build new coalitions, then we need to do that. But I’m more concerned right now about what the court has allowed is rampant discrimination across the South, not just in redrawing maps, but in putting obstacles in people’s way … We, as Democrats, need to stand up to make sure that everyone has the ability to elect the candidate of choice, particularly those that historically have been prevented from doing so,” she concluded.

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