{"id":1767,"date":"2026-02-24T15:49:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/?post_type=article&#038;p=1767"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:49:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:49:52","slug":"virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria"},"template":"","class_list":["post-1767","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-article"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Here\u2019s how Virginia measures up on Common Cause\u2019s six fairness criteria.","featured_image":"","article_type":87,"authors":"","related_issues":[404],"related_work":false,"location":64},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.\r\n\r\nWhile Common Cause does not endorse partisan gerrymandering, even when its motive is to offset more extreme gerrymandering by a different party, we will always prioritize fair representation. That\u2019s why we created a set of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/press\/common-cause-launches-fairness-criteria-to-counter-mid-decade-power-plays\/\">six fairness criteria<\/a> to determine whether or not we will oppose a given state\u2019s effort to redraw their maps mid-decade \u2013 based on whether the result will be protecting voters\u2019 voices or silencing them.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s how Virginia measures up on Common Cause\u2019s six fairness criteria:\r\n<h3><strong>1. Virginia\u2019s redistricting plan is a proportionate response to other states. <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe ballot measure states this redistricting effort is temporary and for the purpose of \"restoring fairness.\" The plan, which would add several solidly Democratic seats, is on the April 21 ballot for Virginia voters to approve. The move was made to counteract states like Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina, adding more solidly Republican seats to their state voting maps in 2025.\r\n<h3>2. <strong>Virginia\u2019s redistricting process\u00a0includes meaningful public participation.<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nVirginia's mid-decade redistricting map will go before voters on April 21, 2026.\r\n<h3><strong>3. Virginia\u2019s redistricting plan considers racial equity.<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThere is no concern from the civil rights community when it comes to Black and brown voters being able to elect candidates of their choice. Similarly, there is no opposition from Asian American civil rights organizations.\r\n<h3><strong>4. Virginia\u2019s leaders support federal reform.<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nGov. Spanberger co-sponsored the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act while in Congress.\r\n<h3><strong>5. Virginia\u2019s leaders endorse independent redistricting.<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nCurrently, Virginia's legislative and congressional lines are drawn by a 16-member politician commission appointed by legislative leaders. Gov. Spanberger co-sponsored the Freedom to Vote Act while in Congress, which mandates independent redistricting.\r\n<h3><strong>6. Virginia\u2019s redistricting plan is time-limited.<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe ballot measure specifies the state's standard redistricting process will resume after the 2030 election."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria - Common Cause Virginia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria - Common Cause Virginia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T20:49:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause Virginia\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria - Common Cause Virginia","description":"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria","og_description":"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause Virginia","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/","name":"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria - Common Cause Virginia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-24T20:49:52+00:00","description":"In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a new congressional map in response to President Trump\u2019s national push to shore up Republicans\u2019 slim House majority by drawing new, unfair maps in the middle of the decade.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/articles\/virginia-redistricting-efforts-meet-common-causes-fairness-criteria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Virginia Redistricting Efforts Meet Common Cause\u2019s Fairness Criteria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/","name":"Common Cause Virginia","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Common Cause Virginia","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1771,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1767\/revisions\/1771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/virginia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}