President Donald Trump called Tuesday’s Virginia redistricting referendum “rigged,” contending that the mail-in ballots impacted the outcome.
NBC News reported that Virginians voted 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent to allow the redrawing of the state’s congressional districts, taking the current party breakdown from a 6-5 split in favor of the Democrats to a potential 10-1 party advantage.
The new map creates multiple districts that originate in Democrat-heavy northern Virginia around Washington, D.C., and extend south.
5 districts in Virginia now start in this circle…
Tentacles from DC reaching across the state. pic.twitter.com/Ek4InrNcxl
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) April 22, 2026
Trump responded on Truth Social on Wednesday, posting, “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!”
In the 2020 presidential election, which Trump also thinks was rigged, states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin flipped to Democrat Joe Biden’s advantage as mail-in ballots were counted.
Trump added in his Wednesday post, “Six to five goes to ten to one, and yet the Presidential Election in November was very close to a 50-50 split. In addition to everything else, the language on the Referendum was purposefully unintelligible and deceptive. As everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even I had no idea what the hell they were talking about in the Referendum, and neither do they! Let’s see if the Courts will fix this travesty of ‘Justice.’”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 22, 2026
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli listed multiple reasons the Virginia Supreme Court should overrule the referendum.
First, he noted the referendum seeks to change the congressional districts through a constitutional amendment, but the amendment was taken up during a special legislative session to address the budget, which was not allowed under Virginia law. “Expanding it to include a constitutional amendment on redistricting required a two-thirds vote that never occurred,” Cuccinelli noted.
Additionally, the amendment must be approved by two separate votes of the legislature, with an election between the votes. Early voting in last fall’s election was already underway when the proposed amendment passed the legislature.
The “yes” vote has won Va’s redistricting referendum — but the legal fight is just beginning. Four Va Constitutional challenges are now teed up:
THREE challenges to the amendment process itself:
1️⃣ First passage was invalid. The amendment was taken up during a special session…— Ken Cuccinelli II (@KenCuccinelli) April 22, 2026
Further, Cuccinelli wrote that the Virginia Constitution requires “every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory,” explaining the “proposed congressional maps violate this contiguity requirement (rather badly).” The former attorney general concluded, “Next stop, court. Stay tuned.”
What happened in Virginia’s redistricting vote?
Yes won by about 3 points, 51.5%-48.5%. If the VA Supreme Court does not invalidate the vote, it will mean a new Dem congressional gerrymander.
Still, No did better than the GOP in 2024 or 2025 attorney general race. pic.twitter.com/nCm2QPZTPS
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) April 22, 2026
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the Virginia referendum a “hyper-partisan gerrymandering boondoggle.”
“A HYPER-PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING BOONDOGGLE”
Speaker Mike Johnson not holding back on Democrats’ extreme redistricting move in Virginia that could FLIP control of the House after this year’s midterm elections.
Johnson says he is CONFIDENT that the state’s Supreme Court will… pic.twitter.com/OiTaiFl5Yx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 22, 2026
He pointed out that the matter was already in the Virginia court system before Tuesday’s election.
Johnson said the Virginia Supreme Court should “do the obvious and right thing” and strike down the referendum.
Virginia in 2024:
🔵52% Kamala
🔴47% TrumpVirginia for this Redistricting:
🔵51% Yes
🔴49% NoNew Congressional Seats:
🔵91% Democrats
🔴9% Republicans pic.twitter.com/N5YMnMxqwC— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) April 22, 2026
In January, a Tazewell County state court judge ruled against the Democrats’ redistricting plan, listing the issues that Cuccinelli highlighted above.
Cuccinelli posted an update on Wednesday, “The Tazewell Circuit Court just ruled the referendum unconstitutional. The Judge entered an injunction blocking certification of the election & denied a motion to stay pending appeal. A final order will be entered once drafted, & it will be immediately appealed.”
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