The United States Supreme Court has rejected a request from Virginia officials to review a decision issued by the state’s supreme court blocking use of a new congressional map strongly favoring Democrats.
The justices’ decision came in a brief, unsigned order Friday evening, just fifteen minutes after reply briefs were shared publicly.
As is often the case, the Court did not provide any insight into their reasoning behind rejecting the appeal.
Earlier this month, the Virginia Supreme Court blocked the state from using a map drawn up by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature after finding that it did not adhere to proper procedures.
Typically, congressional maps nationwide are redrawn every ten years in conjunction with the census, and Virginia is no exception.
In order to approve the new map off-cycle, the state’s constitution needed to be amended to give lawmakers the power to do so.
In Virginia, amendments to the state constitution must be approved two separate times by lawmakers with an election occurring between the votes.
Virginia’s Legislative Assembly gaveled in their 2024 special session, which had never been adjourned, on October 31, 2025 to vote on the proposed amendment, just four days ahead of the November election.
The amendment’s second passage took place on January 19, 2026. Both votes fell along party lines, as reported by Cardinal News.
While Democrats argued that the state’s requirement referred only to Election Day itself, the court ruled 4-3 that the early voting period, which began on September 19, 2025, is considered to be part of the election.
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In filings with the Supreme Court, those who had successfully challenged the new map argued that the Democrats’ request for intervention from the nation’s highest court was “extraordinary,” as the case involved “state courts applying state law to hold state actors accountable – and is thus not one in which the U.S. Supreme Court should intervene.”
Those appealing to the Court, however, suggested that Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) “candid acknowledgment of where things presently stand, which is not part of the record, does not foreclose this Court from acting.”
The Virginia governor had acknowledged earlier in the week that the state would not be using the redrawn maps for the upcoming election.
Instead, the appealing parties argued, her comments merely indicated that “the Commonwealth will conduct its elections in the manner the law requires, and this Court’s intervention will inform that conduct.”
As a result of the Court declining to hear this case on appeal, the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling will stand, meaning that the new congressional map will not be in effect for the 2026 midterm elections.
