Jeffries Says Democrats Ready to Spend Millions on Virginia Redistricting Measure

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Feb. 15 that Democrats will do “whatever it takes” to make Virginia’s redistricting plan successful in a bid to counter Republican moves in other states.

In January, a state judge blocked Democrats’ attempt to redraw Virginia’s congressional map. The Virginia Supreme Court later allowed the plan to proceed to an April voter referendum after an appeal.

In a Feb. 15 interview on CNN, Jeffries said the Democratic Party is ready to spend “tens of millions of dollars” on the Virginia ballot initiative that could potentially add four more U.S. House seats to the party’s tally.

Jeffries said the move was aimed at countering similar Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in other states ahead of the November midterm elections.

“Republicans started this redistricting war, and Democrats have made it clear we’re going to finish it. We’re going to make sure that there is a fair national map,” he said. “When they go low, we strike back. That’s the Democratic approach, and the Republicans are feeling it right now.”

Republicans, who hold a narrow House majority, have already passed redistricting plans in Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina. Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would call a special session for April for the Sunshine State’s GOP-controlled Legislature to draw new U.S. House districts.

The redistricting effort in Texas, backed by President Donald Trump, was initially taken up by Gov. Gregg Abbott on July 24, 2025, following a letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ) warning that four congressional districts in the state were unconstitutionally drawn. The letter stated that the borders of these districts had been drawn on the basis of racial demographics and were thus illegal under the Voting Rights Act.

Following the DOJ’s letter, a new map was then drawn, one that could deliver five more U.S. House seats to Republicans.

The push to redraw the congressional map ahead of the 2030 census prompted pushback by Democrats in the state Legislature, who threatened filibusters, walkouts, and other acts of opposition to the bill. On Aug. 3, more than 50 Texas House Democrats left the state in protest ahead of a planned vote on a draft of the new map, leaving the chamber unable to operate.

Democrats returned two weeks later after Abbot had called for their arrest and potential removal from office, and the bill proposing the new map was passed into law.

In response, several Democrat-run states threatened to redraw their electoral maps in their favor.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared California’s voter-approved redrawn congressional map, which favors Democrats, for use in this year’s midterm elections.

Democrats also sought to redraw Maryland’s congressional map to eliminate the state’s sole Republican-held congressional district, but Senate President Bill Ferguson has signaled his opposition to the plan.

When asked about Ferguson’s stance on the Maryland redistricting plan, Jeffries said he may hold a conversation with Ferguson at some point “if he continues to stand in the way of an up-or-down vote.”

“We know we have majority support right now as we speak in the Maryland state Senate, and all we’re asking President Ferguson to do is allow democracy to prevail,” Jeffries said. “What that means is an up or down vote. One man shouldn’t stand in the way of the people of Maryland.”

Ferguson did not respond to a request for comment.

Stuart Liess, Jacob Burg, and Reuters contributed to this report.