Virginia Republicans aren’t expecting to actually be able to block the April 21 redistricting referendum with the lawsuits they’re filing with their favorite jurist down in the Sahara of the Bozart that is Tazewell, which is closer to the state capitals of West Virginia (Charleston: 127 miles), North Carolina (Raleigh: 231 miles), Kentucky (Frankfort: 250 miles), South Carolina (Columbia: 270 miles), Ohio (Columbus: 285 miles) than it is the state capital of Virginia (Richmond: 295 miles).
ICYMI
Good work on the part of the MAGAs, literally beating the bushes to find a guy willing to read the state Constitution the way they want him to.
All they’re hoping to achieve here is the creation of talking points for voters heading into the referendum, which will be all about voter turnout – we don’t ever have April elections, so people aren’t thinking voting in the early spring; the side that wins will be the one who can motivate their base to either vote early or just vote at all.
The momentum, clearly, is on the side of Democrats, who swept the November elections – Abigail Spanberger was elected governor with 57 percent of the vote, a massive blowout in a state that had somehow swung to the MAGA side four years ago, putting Glenn Youngkin over.
The only polling I’ve seen in the referendum race so far is from Christopher Newport University, which had 51 percent supporting amending the state Constitution to allow a mid-decade redistricting.
Fifty-one percent is a majority, but it’s not 57 percent; Republicans, who stand to lose four of their five congressional seats if the amendment passes, have to play this one as hard as they can, including working the refs.
At the least, the goal is to confuse people, by being able to claim in the TV ads that are going to do their best to make March Madness unwatchable here in the Commonwealth, Hey, a state judge said what the Democrats are doing is … illegal!
They don’t have to tell you that they bought that ruling, or that the state Supreme Court ultimately slapped that guy’s hands.
ICYMI
It’s the Trump strategy, modified – and if they lose on April 21, and the amendment ushers in a 10-1 congressional map, they wave the bloody shirt in the fall, trying to rile up the base and enough swing voters by claiming that the Democrats are trying to steal another election.
It’s all they’ve got, honestly.
I mean, it’s not going to work, but this is the best shot Republicans have.
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Chris Graham
