The redistricting measure that’s coming up for a vote in Virginia localities starting tomorrow was the subject of a meeting held on Monday at the Piankatank Ruritan Club in Mathews.

Sponsored by the NAACP, the meeting was titled “Getting to Yes,” with speakers laying out reasons for supporting the redistricting referendum, which would temporarily change the Virginia Constitution to allow redistricting to be held mid-decade. After the 2030 census, the standard redistricting process would resume for the 2032 elections.

The keynote speaker was Kéren Charles Dongo, who has taken a temporary leave from serving as state director for U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) to serve as director of Virginians for Fair Elections. Dongo has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan, a master’s in government from Regent University, and a law degree from the University of the District of Columbia.

Also speaking were Mathews residents Kent Willis, former executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, and his wife, Sheila Crowley, former president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Speaking via Zoom, Dongo explained that there has been a nationwide effort by Republicans to pick up additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives by having mid-decade redistricting in North Carolina, Texas and Missouri. She said the measures had been taken in response to a request by President Trump, who was expecting losses in the midterm elections because his policies had led to rising health care costs, a “skyrocketing” cost of living, and decreasing safety in communities across the nation.

“They decided to do mid-decade redistricting and find more seats rather than creating policies that would help people,” she said. “We have to make sure we meaningfully have power, not concentrated in one person, but power back to the people … Redistricting is levelling the playing field. It’s a temporary measure to address the emergency going on in the nation right now. They can’t change the rules and we not respond. We have to insist on free and fair elections to hold on to our democracy … We can’t go in with a stick when they’re wielding a knife.”

Crowley said that mid-decade redistricting in North Carolina had added two Republican seats, while Texas had added five, and Missouri had added one. She said the seats had been taken away from Democrats by gerrymandering. In response, she said, California redistricted and turned five Republican seats into Democratic majority seats. If the Virginia referendum passes, it’s expected that four additional Democratic majority seats will be created.

However, Crowley said that none of the redrawn district seats is guaranteed to produce the desired results. While some seats would almost certainly switch from Republican to Democrat, she said, others might not. There are additional redistricting efforts in Florida and Maryland, she said. If those efforts are successful, Florida would likely add Republican seats, while Maryland would likely add Democratic ones.

Willis described redistricting as “the dirtiest, nastiest part of politics.” He said that historically, much of the redistricting process was done in back rooms, and that the only constraint was that “what goes around, comes around.”

While initially queasy about the idea of a mid-decade redistricting when Virginia worked so hard to draw fair districts after the 2020 census, Willis said he realizes it’s necessary.

“We are in a dog fight,” he said. “It’s about a national issue. The only way to level the playing field is to fight back against what Trump has asked Republicans to do.”

Dongo said that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) had made the dire prediction that he wasn’t sure there would be a free and fair election in 2028 if Democrats don’t win back the House of Representatives.

“For a senator to say that is daunting,” she said. “Trump wants to take over elections … We have to put power back in the hands of the people, not a dictator. This is a neck-and-neck fight, and we have to win. That’s because it really is about preserving our democracy … We cannot sit back and watch our country disintegrate right before our eyes.”

Clarifications

The speakers clarified the following issues in response to questions from the audience.

Dongo said that the redistricting measure is set to automatically revert to the existing redistricting process in 2030. That process is in the hands of a commission, she said, and if the 2026 redistricting measure passes, it would take another constitutional amendment to keep it in place.

The map that would be used if the redistricting measure passes is the map that has already been released by the Virginia General Assembly, said Dongo. No new map would be drawn after the vote.

Under the new map, Mathews would be in District 8, said Crowley. District 8 is currently represented by Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, and the redrawn District 8 would cover all or part of 19 cities and counties from Alexandria City to York County. It would consist of approximately 63 percent Democrats and 36.8 percent Republicans.

A handout also clarified the following:

—State-level districts will not be changed under the new maps.

—If the Virginia Supreme Court does not uphold the maps when it issues its final judgment, it will nullify the new district maps and revert to the current district maps.

—If the maps are upheld, the mid-decade maps will be used for the elections in 2026, 2028 and 2030.

Upcoming meeting

A town hall will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Living Waters Church, 2061 Windsor Road, Dutton, to present a case against voting for the redistricting referendum. The guest speaker will be former Virginia Delegate Brenda Pogge. She will also discuss referendums proposed for the November election on constitutional amendments regarding reproductive freedom and marriage equality.

Text of the redistricting referendum

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”