Democrats Consider Radical Plan To Gut Virginia Supreme Court To Save Partisan Voting Map: Report

Virginia Democrats are reportedly considering a radical idea in an effort to salvage new partisan voting maps that the state Supreme Court ruled invalid — forcing the entire court into early retirement.In a four-to-three decision last week, the court ruled that the state’s Democratic-led legislature violated procedural requirements in its election on a constitutional amendment to alter Virginia’s voting maps. Lawmakers sought to redraw congressional maps to give Democrats an edge in flipping four seats so the party would control 10 out of 11 seats in the House.In a potential last ditch effort to keep the new map, lawmakers are now considering remaking the state’s highest court by lowering the mandatory retirement age for judges, authority granted by Virginia’s constitution. The age is currently 73 and the youngest justice on the court is 54. A new retirement age under consideration would be 54, effectively forcing the entire court to retire.The progressive political blog the Downballot proposed the idea on Friday, calling it a simple and lawful solution to recover from the loss. In a livestream discussion on the idea, the site’s publisher, David Nir, said even lowering the retirement age to 70 would force the retirement of the oldest justice, Teresa Chafin, who was one among the majority that rejected the new voting map.“The point is, really, there are options,” said a law professor and contributor to the Downballot, Quinn Yeargain, who came up with the idea.Mr. Yeargain’s idea started to circulate among state lawmakers and Democratic House members from Virginia, along with the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, discussed it during a private strategy call Saturday, the New York Times reported.The plan drew mixed reactions from participants, according to the report. Concerns included whether Democrats in the General Assembly would go along with the scheme or whether Governor Abigail Spanberger would support it. On Monday, Ms. Spanberger, who on the campaign trail last year said she was not interested in redistricting, offered a one-word answer on the prospect of changing the court’s retirement age. “No,” she told Richmond’s Channel 8 News.Other Democrats say they are open to considering it, according to Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan. “I think the General Assembly is going to look at all options on the table, including trying again for the constitutional amendment. But I’m focused on the political fight,” Ms. McClellan said on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.”Congressman Suhas Subramanyam said he would support anything that would preserve the map voters approved last month. “Everyone has got to have a strong stomach right now. This is a complete disaster waiting to happen if people are timid,” Mr. Subramanyam told the Times.A Republican congresswoman who could have seen her district flip under the new map called the idea “un-American.” “They can’t beat us at the ballot box so they’re resorting to a lot of shady tactics,” Congresswoman Jen Kiggans said Monday in an X video. “Pay attention and stay tuned.”The founding editor of Southwest Virginia’s Cardinal News, Dwayne Yancey, said altering the state’s high court is not a serious idea and the political calendar makes the proposal unrealistic.Lawmakers would have to pass the law to lower the retirement age, persuade the governor to sign the bill, and then find and seat a new bench of justices, Mr. Yancey said, all before filing a new lawsuit that could give the justices a pretense to overturn the previous court’s decision. Primary elections are already set for August 4 ahead of November’s general election.Other options are also being pursued. Attorney General Jay Jones plans to seek emergency relief with the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the state court ruling. Mr. Jones filed a motion asking the state court to pause its ruling from taking effect while he waits to see if the Supreme Court will grant a hearing on the case. The chances of the nation’s high court getting involved appears to be unlikely, however, because the case doesn’t involve federal law or the U.S. Constitution.

Democrats Consider Radical Plan To Gut Virginia Supreme Court To Save Partisan Voting Map: Report

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