Virginia's 'Lobster' district violates anti-gerrymandering principles despite court approval
Source: "JONATHAN TURLEY: Virginia’s ‘Lobster’ map turns anti-gerrymandering into a sham | Fox News." April 28, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
Virginia created an extremely oddly-shaped congressional district that stretches over 100 miles to give Democrats unfair political advantage. Even though this clearly violates the state constitution's requirement for compact districts, a judge approved it by claiming 'compactness' is too subjective to enforce.
Conclusion
Virginia's 7th Congressional District (the 'Lobster') is an extreme gerrymander that violates state constitutional requirements for compact districts and should be struck down by the Virginia Supreme Court
Premises
- The 7th Congressional District stretches over 100 miles in a lobster-like shape, clearly violating the state constitutional requirement for 'compact' districts
- Governor Spanberger campaigned against gerrymandering but then implemented what critics call the most radical gerrymandered map in the nation
- The new map transforms Virginia from fairly divided representation to a 10-1 Democratic advantage despite the state being evenly divided politically
- Judge Thorne-Begland's ruling that compactness is 'fairly debatable' renders constitutional requirements meaningless
- Virginia previously had a reputation as the 'gold standard' for rejecting gerrymandering with fairly divided districts
Assumptions
- Constitutional requirements for 'compact' districts should have objective, enforceable meaning
- Courts have a duty to enforce constitutional standards even when politically difficult
- Extreme partisan gerrymandering undermines democratic representation
- A district's bizarre shape is evidence of improper partisan manipulation