Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack S. Hurley Jr. rejected a preliminary injunction on Wednesday that sought to block the General Assembly from moving forward with its redistricting special session.
Del. Terry Kilgore (R–Gate City), state Sens. Bill Stanley (R–Franklin County) and Ryan McDougle (R–Hanover) and Virginia Trost-Thornton (a citizen member of the commonwealth’s bipartisan redistricting commission) filed suit against the clerks of the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate.
They argue in the suit that the General Assembly is overstepping its bounds by changing the purpose of the special session — which has technically been open since a state budget spat in 2024 — and superseding the mapmaking authority of the redistricting commission.
As VPM News has previously reported, Virginia voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment creating the commission in 2020. That bipartisan commission failed to agree on maps in 2021, resulting in Virginia’s current congressional districts being drawn by court-appointed special masters.
Democrats in the General Assembly say they want the option to rework Virginia’s maps — which is typically only done once a decade, after the US Census is taken — to favor their party, to counter President Donald Trump’s push for Republican-led states to redraw their lines and deliver extra seats to the GOP.
Because the commission was created by an amendment to the state constitution, the plaintiffs say they filed the suit “in order to support and defend the constitutional right and authority” of the commission to draw maps.
They also seek to defend Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s constitutional rights, as they see them. The plaintiffs argue that the constitution only grants the governor or a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly the power to call the legislature to Richmond outside of regular session.
This was debated in the General Assembly on Wednesday. The Virginia Senate voted 21–17 along party lines in favor of a joint resolution to expand the purpose of the special session.
A simple majority would be enough for a motion to succeed in most situations. But Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears — presiding over the Senate less than a week before she hopes to be elected governor — declared that the vote had failed, citing the same sections of the state constitution quoted in the lawsuit.
“This provision, then, establishes that a two-thirds vote represents the constitutional threshold for authorizing extraordinary legislative action,” Earle-Sears said.
Another simple majority of senators — all Democrats — disagreed with her ruling, forcing the joint resolution through.
As for the lawsuit: Hurley denied the plaintiffs’ request for an emergency injunction. The full case will be heard on Nov. 5, after Election Day.
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