Fairfax County Democrats say it’s time to hold a Special Election for members of the Virginia House of Delegates.
At its March 22nd general body meeting, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee members voted 86% in favor of a resolution calling for special elections for the House of Delegates in 2022.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said FCDC Chair Bryan Graham. “The Constitution of Virginia is clear that we should have voted with new, balanced district boundaries last November. Trump administration delays of Census data forced our elections last year on outdated maps. The courts can and should do the right thing by calling for House of Delegates elections in compliance with the Constitutional right of equal representation.”
Despite being fresh off a November 2021 election, a lawsuit filed by the former Virginia Democratic Party Chairman asserts. Delegates should run for re-election this November because, with newly drawn districts, residents are not fairly represented.
In December, the Virginia Supreme Court redrew political districts as part of the state’s redistricting process to be completed every 10 years. However, delays in the U.S. Census, from which population data is used to draw the new district lines, were delayed a year.
Political pundits say neither Democrats nor Republicans want to run again this year, as some don’t want to risk losing their seats. At the same time, Republicans are satisfied with their new majority House.
Now, Fairfax County is carved up into 17 new House of Delegates Districts. Seven newly-drawn districts encompass Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park, and three newly-drawn districts encompass Stafford County and Fredericksburg.
FCDC is the largest local Democratic Party organization in the Commonwealth of Virginia, representing the Democrats from strongly Democratic Fairfax County, Virginia’s most populous jurisdiction.
