Unfit to Print: THE LOBSTER DISTRICT
Plus: SPLC indicted, Trump extends ceasefire, another Democrat exits
Hey y’all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.
Today we’re breaking down the Virginia redistricting results, the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Trump’s ceasefire extension, and the ousting of Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
THE LOBSTER DISTRICT
Virginians voted Tuesday to approve a redistricting map introduced by Democrats that allows wealthy, Democratic residents in northern Virginia to outvote rural residents in the state.
The new gerrymandered map changes the balance of power from 6-5 to 10-1 in Democrats’ favor, even though the state went just under six points to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Democrats claim it is a “temporary measure” — existing through the 2030 Census — to combat President Donald Trump.
Former President Barack Obama was one of the chief spokespeople for the new map, alongside Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, who ran in the 2025 election as a moderate Democrat.
The map itself is truly something to behold. The so-called “lobster district” — Virginia’s new 7th congressional district proposed by the map — starts up north with a sliver of blue Fairfax County and then splits into two arms just north of Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia is located. The proposed 8th district similarly starts in Fairfax and then snakes down to the area east of Richmond.
The ballot measure itself was also extraordinarily biased, calling the move to rip power from rural voters an attempt to “restore fairness.” The Democrat-majority state legislature approved the language on the ballot to read, “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
Virginia Republicans launched several groups aimed at stopping the ballot initiative, including one run by former Attorney General Jason Miyares, and coordinated with the Republican National Committee in those efforts, according to exclusive Daily Caller reporting.
Though the GOP predicted rural voters might turn out in big numbers to stop the Democrat power grab on Election Day, the measure won by about two points. For comparison, Spanberger won her election against Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Sears by about 15 points.
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