Shell-shocked Democrats scramble after Virginia redistricting whiplash

Shell-shocked Democrats are scrambling to pick up the pieces after the Virginia Supreme Court quashed a new map designed to help them seize control of the House in November’s midterms. 

The decision immediately eliminates four House seats that were expected to flip to the Democrats’ side in the Old Dominion. And it constitutes an enormous setback to the party’s efforts to counteract the Republicans’ redistricting push in red states around the country — an extraordinary gerrymandering war initiated by President Trump as he fights to keep GOP majorities in Congress for the final years of his second term.

Combined with the Supreme Court’s decision last week to nullify a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) — a decision that’s set off a new hunt in a handful of GOP states to eliminate additional Democratic seats — the Virginia ruling makes it much more difficult for Democrats to win control of the House and serve as a check on Trump in his last two years.

Furious Democratic leaders are pushing back, accusing Virginia’s high court of defying the will of the voters while vowing to explore “all options” to fight the verdict, in the words of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). 

“No matter what it takes, House Democrats will win in November so we can help rescue this nation from the extremism being unleashed by Donald Trump and Republicans,” Jeffries, who’s in line to become the next Speaker if Democrats win in November, said in a statement. 

“Our fight is not over. We are just getting started.”

Their options, however, are limited, given the shrinking window before the Nov. 3 elections and the dearth of blue states available for redistricting.

Analysts at the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election handicapper, say the cumulative........

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