Virginia Democrats Should Use Republican Hardball Tactics to Overturn Gerrymandering Ruling
Source: Billy Corriher. "Democrats can use Republicans’ tactics to overturn the Virginia Supreme Court’s gerrymandering decision.." May 11, 2026. slate.com
The Gist
The author argues that Virginia Democrats should fight fire with fire by using the same aggressive court-packing and rule-changing tactics that Republicans have used across the country to protect gerrymandering. Since Republicans have already broken democratic norms to rig elections, Democrats are justified in doing the same to restore a voter-approved fair map.
Conclusion
Virginia Democrats should use aggressive constitutional hardball tactics (like lowering judicial retirement age) to replace state Supreme Court justices and restore their voter-approved redistricting map
Premises
- Republicans across multiple states have already established the precedent of using hardball tactics to circumvent court restrictions on gerrymandering
- In Utah, Republicans packed the state Supreme Court and created a new constitutional court to avoid gerrymandering restrictions
- In Florida, Republicans undermined merit selection systems to install judges favorable to their gerrymandering efforts
- In Ohio, Republicans changed judicial elections and spent millions to create a more favorable state Supreme Court after losing gerrymandering cases
- In North Carolina, Republicans threatened impeachment and successfully flipped the court to overturn anti-gerrymandering rulings
- Virginia's legislature can replace Justice Kelsey in January 2027, providing a legitimate opportunity to reverse the court's decision
- The Virginia map has democratic legitimacy because it was voter-approved, unlike Republican gerrymanders in other states
Assumptions
- Constitutional hardball tactics are justified when used to counter similar tactics by the opposing party
- Protecting democracy justifies using aggressive institutional manipulation
- The current political environment constitutes 'competitive authoritarianism' requiring extraordinary responses
- Voter-approved redistricting maps have superior democratic legitimacy to court-imposed restrictions
- The asymmetry between parties in willingness to use hardball tactics disadvantages Democrats