Last night the people of Virginia flipped their state House and Senate into Democratic majorities, the first time this has happened in over two decades:
CNN – Democrats will win majorities in Virginia’s House and Senate on Tuesday, CNN projects, giving the party full control of the state’s government for the first time in more than two decades.
The victories put Gov. Ralph Northam and Democrats in the Legislature in position to pursue a progressive agenda — including gun control measures, which majority Republicans had blocked, and a higher minimum wage.
Great. So now Virginia can vote to abort babies even after they are born.
So why did Virginia swing Democratic last night, for the first time in two decades? The Washington Post gives us the answer…
Federal judges have selected a Virginia House of Delegates redistricting map that appears to heavily favor Democrats, redrawing the lines of 26 districts and moving several powerful Republicans into unfavorable configurations.
Six Republicans would wind up in districts where a majority of voters chose Democratic President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, according to an analysis of the maps by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. No current Democrats would see their voter majority change to Republican, based on those election results.
If the court’s map selection stands, it would create a favorable environment for Democrats seeking to take control of the House of Delegates in elections this fall, according to the analysis. All 100 seats in the House are on the ballot, and Republicans hold a 51-to-48 majority.
The courts used a California professor to create new redistricting maps since Republicans and Northam were at an impasse on how to redraw the districts. And now you see the result, just as the Washington Post predicted.