Update (1835ET): A Virginia judge ruled on Wednesday that the state’s redistricting referendum approved by voters a day earlier was invalid, nullifying the election results.

“Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the People’s vote,” said Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, adding that the state would appeal. 

As American Greatness notes further, Tazewell County Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled that the referendum was likely unconstitutional as it violated procedural requirements in the Virginia Constitution, including the timing of the vote and the failure to publish the amendment three months before the prior general election.

The Tazewell Circuit Court also ruled the ballot language was misleading, specifically the phrase “restore fairness,” which Hurley determined could improperly influence voters by implying opposition is unfair.

The constitutional amendment was framed on the ballot as a vote “to restore fairness in the upcoming elections.”  It narrowly passed Tuesday night by a margin of 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.

In his written ruling, Hurley said the plaintiffs had an “extraordinarily high likelihood of success on the merits.”

The contested measure would allow Democrats to re-draw the state’s congressional maps from a 6-to-5 advantage to 10-to-1 majority, disenfranchising potentially millions of Republican voters ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The temporary restraining order was requested by the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and U.S. Reps. Ben Cline (R-Botetourt County) and Morgan Griffith (R-Salem).

In the emergency motion, the plaintiffs asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Virginia’s commissioner of elections, members of the State Board of Elections and several Tazewell County election officials. They contend the court should intervene immediately to “preserve the status quo” and prevent what they describe as “irreparable harm” before a hearing can be held.

“The Democrats’ unfair redistricting scheme is illegal. We are grateful that the court has agreed and swiftly applied justice to stop this unconstitutional power grab that would disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters by reassigning them members of Congress from other parts of the state,” said Cline. “This ruling is an important victory in our fight to make sure that politicians don’t get to select their own voters.”

Hurley’s ruling declares that any and all votes for or against the proposed constitutional amendment in the April 21, 2026 special election are ineffective and enjoins Defendants and their successors from certifying the results of the election.

Additional legal challenges argue the amendment violates the single-subject rule and was improperly advanced during a special legislative session. Although the Virginia Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed while reviewing the case, if it upholds the lower court’s findings, the referendum results could be invalidated.

President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social Wednesday morning, claiming the referendum itself was “rigged.” In his post, Trump wrote:

“A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA! All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’ Where have I heard that before — And the Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory! Six to five goes to ten to one, and yet the Presidential Election in November was very close to a 50-50 split. … Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of ‘Justice.’”

Trump’s comments focused on the overnight counting of mail-in and absentee ballots — which flipped the initially reported lead — echoing his past criticisms of election procedures. The referendum was extremely close (roughly 51.4% Yes / 48.6% No), and in Virginia it is standard for in-person votes to be tallied first on election night while mail ballots are counted later.

Virginia’s Republican-hating Attorney General Jay Jones (D) has already vowed to appeal the ruling.

“My office will immediately appeal the ruling issued by the Tazewell County Circuit Court,” Jones said. “These arguments are already before the Supreme Court of Virginia, the proper forum to consider the arguments, which has set a schedule for receiving arguments and has justifiably allowed the vote to proceed during this time.”

Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover) and House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore (R-Scott) issued a joint statement saying the ruling was “a necessary step to protect Virginia voters from an illegal and rushed” redistricting referendum.

“The Constitution sets clear rules for how amendments must be advanced. Those rules were not properly followed. Plain and simple. Virginians deserve transparency, fairness, and adherence to the law — not backroom deals,” they said.

Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli predicted on the Scott Jennings Show, Wednesday that the Virginia redistricting measure won’t survive the legal challenges.

“Here’s my prediction,” Cuccinelli posted on X. “The referendum gets tossed out in May.”

Now they care about activist judges! 

We are having quite the night in the courts. A Virginia judge just blocked the state from certifying the results of Tuesday’s congressional map referendum as unlawful. Judge Jack Hurley Jr., ruled that Democrats did not follow the correct procedure for a constitutional…

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 22, 2026

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Democrats’ decisive win in Virginia Tuesday night has dealt a significant blow to Republican hopes of retaining control of the House.

By persuading voters to dismantle the state’s independent redistricting commission – created just six years ago – Democrats wiped out four Republican-held congressional districts. This means Virginia’s House delegation is now on track to shift to a 10-to-1 Democratic advantage, a dramatic reversal for a state that remained firmly in GOP hands not long ago.

That said, Democrats dropped $65 million on the races (though the final tally was uncomfortably close), while Punchbowl reports that Republicans are trading blame internally – second-guessing whether they let a chance slip away to blunt the Democratic surge.

And with midterms right around the corner, there are few indications that President Trump or House Republican leadership possesses either the strategic focus or message discipline needed to protect their narrow majority. Fresh off Trump’s 2024 presidential win, Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, clung to control by the slimmest of margins. Pulling off a repeat performance now looks considerably tougher.

Betting markets are already pricing in a Democratic win in the House.

While party leaders insist a third Trump impeachment is off the table, the shift would almost certainly unleash a barrage of investigations and subpoenas aimed at the White House and Cabinet agencies – with major legal and political ripple effects. Lawmakers could also face even more protracted government shutdowns than the record-length appropriations lapses seen in the current Congress.

“I told Mike Johnson in July of last year that, ‘If you go down this road, it’s not going to work out for you,'” Jeffries told Punchbowl Tuesday night.

He added: “And at the end of the day, his best-case scenario was that he would net zero seats, but force at least 10 Republicans, who are incumbent members of his conference, into premature retirement. And that is exactly what has happened.”

Jeffries earned significant credit for orchestrating Tuesday’s outcome – as Virginia Democrats first had to steer the ballot measure through the state legislature twice, beat back multiple court challenges, and then win over voters. A nonprofit aligned with Jeffries poured $38 million into the effort to secure passage, and he personally managed the operation from beginning to end – designing the referendum strategy, recruiting staff and directing on-the-ground coordination. Many Virginia Democrats initially resisted the high-stakes gamble, requiring Jeffries to personally persuade both the state delegation and the warring legislative chambers to fall in line.

True to form, Jeffries remained measured when asked whether Tuesday’s result clinched the majority or signaled an impending blue wave. He did, however, declare victory in the broader redistricting battle.

“When you line up the congressional map in Texas and compare it with the response in California, they’re going to lose seats and would be fortunate if in Texas, they win two or three of the five seats that they claimed they were going to steal from Democrats,” Jeffries said.

The biggest wild cards left for both sides are Florida and the future of the Voting Rights Act, which is up to the Supreme Court. Tuesday’s result intensifies pressure on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to advance an ambitious congressional map next week capable of delivering Republicans a net gain of three to five seats. Yet DeSantis is encountering pushback from the state’s Republican congressional delegation and the GOP-controlled legislature, many of whom doubt such an aggressive redraw is feasible. Several Florida Republicans caution that Latino voters are not reliably in the GOP column and may not show up for the party the way they did in 2024, urging caution.

Spending in Virginia was wildly lopsided. Democrats poured $56.4 million into television and digital ads; Republicans mustered just $24.6 million. Republicans still lost by fewer than 90,000 votes out of more than 3 million cast.

According to the report, GOP strategists insist they deliberately avoided nationalizing the contest to keep from energizing the Democratic base. They argue that heavier spending would simply have provoked an even larger Democratic response. They also note that the “No” side outperformed Trump’s 2024 numbers in the state. Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and onetime House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who helmed the opposition effort, pledged to keep fighting the new map in court.

House Republicans, however, were already firing off frantic messages Tuesday night. Several told reporters they had been assured that additional money would make no difference in Virginia – yet the narrow margin suggests otherwise. 

The American Action Network, a nonprofit close to Johnson, quietly funneled money to the group bankrolling the “No” campaign, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Meanwhile, only one solidly Republican seat remains, in the state’s southwest corner. GOP Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith may find themselves forced into a member-versus-member primary.