Spanberger: Anti-redistricting campaign tried to ‘trick people’

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) on Wednesday said the campaign opposed to the redistricting referendum in the Old Dominion sought to “trick people” into voting against the ballot measure allowing congressional maps to be redrawn to favor Democrats. 

“You know, certainly we were out and about encouraging people to vote ‘yes,’ but the ‘no’ campaign was strong. It was ample. It featured millions of dollars worth of television ads and mailers, you know, misrepresenting my position and President Obama’s position, trying to trick people,” Spanberger said during a Wednesday appearance on MS Now’s “Morning Joe.”

“But in the end, Virginia voters understood that the legislature and we had given them the power to make this choice, and I think they made the right one,” she added.

The redistricting measure passed by a slim margin Tuesday night, with a 51 percent to 49 percent split. Both Obama and Spanberger were vocal supporters of the ballot measure, with the former president appearing in ads encouraging voters to vote “yes.”

More than $64 million funded Virginians for Fair Elections, the “yes”-vote group, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).  The “no”-vote group, Virginians for Fair Maps, brought in around $21 million, according to the latest VPAP numbers. 

Ttuesday’s vote could help Democrats pick up at four more House seats in the November midterms if it’s not overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court, which is mulling a Republican challenge against the amendment.

“I think what’s most important is that the individual voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia ultimately voted on this referendum and passed it,” Spanberger told MS Now host John Scarborough. “Really, this all began when President Trump said that he believed he was entitled to congressional seats and that the legislature at the time in Texas responded by redistricting without the input of the people to ensure that he got what he wanted.”

“And so as we have seen efforts at redistricting in other states, Virginia created a plan that was wholly responsive to the actions of other states and temporary in nature, very clearly preserving our bipartisan redistricting commission into the future,” she continued. 

The Texas legislature, pressured by President Trump, kicked off a nationwide redistricting war last year that expanded to a handful of other states looking to make new maps mid-decade.

Republicans in Florida are now looking to pick up additional House seats, with state lawmakers set to consider redistricting next week during a special session on the matter. 

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