As Virginia heads to the state Supreme Court, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D) will have to up his game a bit. For starters, he will have to actually defend the redistricting resolution as constitutional when asked. In a recent interview with CNN, even the friendly network’s host expressed frustration that Jones failed to actually defend the ballot measure’s questionable language.
Many of us have expressed skepticism about the process and language of the resolution passed this week, which wiped out all but one Republican district in the purple state.
Virginia was considered the gold standard among states that rejected gerrymandering with fairly divided districts in a state divided down the middle. Then Governor Abigail Spanberger was elected, who assured voters that she was firmly against gerrymandering and then immediately called for the most radical gerrymander map in the country after being elected.
The candidate who declared that “anti-gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority” rushed to voters a resolution that would have made Eldridge Gerry himself blush.
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That map was overrun by a narrow margin when Democrats moved to wipe out the representation of half their neighbors, leaving Republicans with just one of 11 districts.
The problem is that Democrats were too smart by half in crafting a campaign that even the Washington Post called shockingly unfair and misleading to voters.
The deception started with the language of the resolution itself. Although Virginia law requires clarity in such resolutions, the language was blunt and vague, stating that it would “temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in upcoming elections.” There was nothing ‘temporary’ about the plan, which would continue for years. More importantly, it’s unclear what is meant by “restoring fairness” on a map that would wipe out virtually every GOP district.
Furthermore, the process used to move the resolution to the vote as quickly as possible was condensed and unprecedented. This mess was too much for Tazewell Circuit Judge Jack Hurley, who imposed the voter-approved map. It now awaits oral argument before the Virginia Supreme Court next week.
Jones, of course, was aware of all this when he received the most predictable question from CNN anchor Brianna Keilar, who cited the misleading elements cited by Judge Hurley and asked, “Does he have a point about it being misleading?”
Jones elaborated on a story about how the “yes side prevailed” and called Hurley “an activist judge.” Keilar reasonably went further, noting, “I know you’re calling him an activist judge, but he’s citing the Virginia Constitution and the legal experts we’ve talked to to say that what he says is going to create some pretty big challenges for you in court that you’re going to have to overcome.” Then she repeated the question.
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Once again, Jones gave that deer-in-the-headlights look and started babbling, “Well, look, I’m really proud of Virginia. I believe the right to vote is sacred, not just as Virginians, but as Americans. This is the birthplace of democracy.”
This exchange continued until Keilar, to her credit, ended the interview with, “I don’t hear you answering the substance of my question.”
The problem is that the campaign and the resolution, as the Washington Post noted, are blatantly misleading and dishonest. Jones is counting on the majority in the Supreme Court to shake off the problems. Democrats also hope that judges who face the voters themselves are unlikely to deny a popular vote. Indeed, it does not appear that such a vote has ever been reversed in the state.
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If the Court follows the law and throws out the vote, Democrats could face the ultimate disaster. They just spent a fortune to narrowly pass the resolution. In doing so, they alienated half of the state, who took it quite personally that Democrats were trying to wipe out virtually all of their representation in the state after recently pledging never to engage in such gerrymandering. They are unlikely to forget this effort, and virtually every Democrat in the state fought to pass this resolution. Some of these Democrats are depending on Republican votes in the purple state to secure their statewide office. They are unlikely to force this effort into a memory hole for the victims of gerrymandering, especially if the courts also declare that they acted unlawfully.
Finally, using unlawful means to reorient a state only destroys the credibility of the Democratic mantra of being defenders of the Constitution and democracy. The optics will only be heightened by an attorney general elected by Democratic voters after threatening to kill political opponents and their children. There was no vagueness in Jones’ previous approach to political opponents. His election was seen as the ultimate triumph of political anger by the very same voters who effectively wiped out half the state’s representation.
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Ultimately, it will be up to the Virginia Supreme Court “to restore fairness to the upcoming elections.” There is no doubt that this resolution has destroyed constitutional law and tradition.
The question is whether the justices themselves have the courage to demand more from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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