Supreme Court of Virginia Rejects GOP Redistricting Nominees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Supreme Court of Virginia rejected all three experts nominated by Republicans to serve as special masters to assist the court with redistricting. The court unanimously determined the GOP nominees have partisan conflicts of interest that prevent them from “prudently exercising independent judgment.” Virginia Democrats had sent a letter to the court earlier this week urging it to reject the nominees due to their past work advancing Republican interests.

Due to the failure of Virginia’s Redistricting Commission to approve new congressional or state legislative maps, responsibility for redistricting has fallen to the state Supreme Court. The court is in the process of hiring two outside experts — one nominated by Republicans and the other by Democrats — to prepare maps for the judges to consider. Per the court’s order, Virginia Republicans have until Nov. 15 to submit additional nominees.