Virginia voters narrowly approved an amendment Tuesday that will drastically alter the state’s congressional maps — which shifted the state’s even distribution to a 10-1 Democrat supermajority — after massive spending from left-wing dark money groups.
The measure passed with 51 percent of the vote in favor and 49 percent against, representing a massive swing after Democrats cruised during the state’s gubernatorial race last year. The outcome reflected a closely divided electorate, with the final tally showing roughly 1.575 million yes votes to 1.486 million no votes out of more than three million cast.
The amendment changes the Virginia Constitution to allow the General Assembly to “temporarily” adopt new congressional districts for use in upcoming elections through October 2030. In effect, the new map will draw out four districts currently held by Republicans while Democrats pinky promise to revert back to the state’s independent redistricting commission after the next session.
Campaign spending on the referendum showed a clear imbalance, as groups supporting the amendment raised and spent far more than those opposing it.
Virginians for Fair Elections, the primary organization backing the yes campaign, raised $64 million. Approximately one-quarter of that total was directed toward television advertising, according to an analysis from the Daily Caller.
House Majority Forward, another entity involved in the pro-amendment effort, contributed about $40 million. In comparison, Virginians for Fair Maps, the main group on the opposing side, raised $20 million for the no campaign.
A portion of the funding for the yes side came from sources that do not disclose all donors, commonly referred to as dark money. Virginians for Fair Elections received $5 million from the Fund for Policy Reform Inc., an organization affiliated with and funded by the network of left-wing billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
Another significant contributor, House Majority Forward, is linked to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and is not required to disclose its donors. Reporting from the Washington Post characterized the effort to trace the ultimate sources of money flowing into Virginians for Fair Elections as comparable to disassembling a many-layered Russian nesting doll, highlighting the layered structure of some nonprofit and advocacy funding channels.
In total, the referendum’s outcome was determined by a margin of roughly 89,000 votes out of more than three million cast, underscoring the competitive nature of the contest despite the funding gap.
