Democracy Dies in Darkness

Partisan biases laid bare on Virginia Redistricting Commission as more gridlock stymies congressional map

October 20, 2021 at 5:43 p.m. EDT
Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) speaks during a meeting at the Capitol in Richmond in 2016. (Steve Helber/AP)

The bipartisan Virginia Redistricting Commission nearly gave up on drawing a congressional map on Wednesday after coming to blunt terms with their reality: Partisanship is the real motivating factor — even on a commission created expressly to avoid it.

Yet again, the commission gridlocked after trying to reach a consensus on a direction of a new congressional map. Following hours of largely fruitless debate, several commissioners said it was time to cut to the chase and be upfront about the political biases that have been derailing progress.