Harris, Obama and Black leaders celebrate Virginia redistricting win as sending ‘clear message’ to Trump

“The power is with the people,” said Kamala Harris, former U.S. vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.

Virginia voters have spoken, approving a referendum that allows the General Assembly to redraw its congressional map, giving Democrats a major political advantage over Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. Democratic leaders and advocates celebrated the win, saying it sends a clear message to President Donald Trump, who made the unprecedented call for Republicans in Texas and beyond to redraw state maps in their favor to keep control of Congress amid his low approval ratings.

“Donald Trump and Republicans have tried to rig the 2026 midterms. Today in Virginia, voters sent them a clear message: The power is with the people,” said Kamala Harris, former U.S. vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, who was defeated by Trump in the 2024 election.

“Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back,” said former U.S. President Barack Obama, who heavily campaigned for the Democratic referendum.

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, also reacted to Tuesday’s vote, saying in a statement, “Democrats defeated Donald Trump’s gerrymandering scheme in Virginia tonight. We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next. Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

Jeffries, who also campaigned for Virginia Democrats, stands to make history as the first Black speaker of the House should Democrats outmaneuver Trump’s gerrymandering plot and win back the House majority in this November’s midterm elections.

Former Obama U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who founded the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) in an effort to combat political gerrymandering, said Virginia voters “showed up, stood up, and proved that even in the face of an unprecedented effort to undermine our country’s democracy, voters will have the final say.”

“The mere existence of this special election stands in stark contrast to the gerrymanders forced on constituents in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina and shows that voters are tired of Republican attempts to silence their power at the voting booth,” said Holder. “They didn’t just win an election – they have stopped Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the 2026 midterms in its tracks and defended the principle that elections should be fair, competitive, and decided by the people.”

The former Obama official added, “Let this be a message to MAGA Republicans and the White House: enough is enough. If Republicans insist on continuing efforts to draw the American people out of a say in the future of their country, they can expect to see voters across the country follow in Virginians’ and Californians’ footsteps and rise up to stop them.”

Advocates have argued that Trump and the Republican Party’s attempt to retain power in Congress through gerrymandered maps, many of which have been accused of being racially motivated, is a threat to Black Americans’ ability to not only have representation but have their votes heard, particularly in opposition to the president and his policies.

Black voters in Virginia, who are staunch Democratic voters, were especially vital to the Democrats’ redistricting referendum victory.

“Politicians and their billionaire-funded allies tried to buy this election, flooding the airwaves and our communities with dark money and disinformation to rig the rules in their favor,” said Nadine Smith, President and CEO of Color Of Change. “They targeted Black voters with manipulative mailers and weaponized fear in an attempt to tilt the outcome. It failed.”

Smith continued, “These billionaires are so desperate because they know that when everyday people have a real voice and fair districts, corruption and extremism finally face consequences. They tried to drown voters in lies. Voters saw through it, stood together, and sent a clear message: if you try to rig our democracy, we will organize, we will vote, and we will win.”