House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) celebrated Wednesday after Virginia voters approved a new congressional map that could deliver Democrats as many as four additional seats in the November midterms.
“Last night was a big victory for the people of Virginia, a big victory for America, a big victory for democracy,” he told reporters at the Capitol.
The new Virginia map was narrowly approved following a massive push by Democrats as they seek to counteract Republican mid-decade gerrymandering in states like Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.
“Donald Trump and Republicans launched this gerrymandering war, and we’ve made clear as Democrats that we’re going to finish it on behalf of the American people,” Rep. Jeffries said. “We will not let Donald Trump rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering maps all across the country without a forceful Democratic response.”
Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats.
Under the new map, they could win as many as 10.
“These Republican extremists thought that we were going to step back,” Rep. Jeffries said. “We were never going to step back.
We’re going to continue to fight back — all the way through Nov. 3, when Democrats will take back control of the House of Representatives.”
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