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The special referendum vote is being conducted today in Virginia, and even though there are no candidates up for election, the contest is being very closely watched by political pundits across the country. The Old Dominion State has eleven Congressional districts. Those districts currently stand 6-5 in favor of Democrats over Republicans; the referendum, however, is asking Virginians to approve redistricting that would shift the edge to 10-1 in favor of the Democrats. Proponents of the referendum say it would be an adjustment that reflects Virginia’s political alignment, but opponents say it is nothing more than gerrymandering to create a Democratic power grab.
The referendum also comes on the heels of redistricting proposals in other states, so it is seen as a bellwether before the mid-term elections. It was also something that Virginia Governor Abagail Spanberger initially said she was against conducting but changed her mind and decided to ask for the referendum not long after she assumed the job this year. 710 WOR’s Curtis Sliwa and Larry Mendte in the Morning program weighed in on the redistricting controversy, and both hosts- especially Larry- see the cons far outweighing the pros.
Curtis offered a theory that Spanberger is rolling the dice to change Virginia’s political hue from purple to blue: “There has been an exodus, as you know, from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Some people, before they go to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, they decide hey, let’s check out the state for lovers, Virginia. And a lot of the new voters who have moved there from the Northeast [are] very strong Democrats, so I think she’s banking on the fact that we have that exodus from north of the Mason-Dixon line, it’s coming in here- let’s go for the jugular now.”
Larry ceded that demographic point, but suggested the timing is the stumbling block that ruins the pro-Democrat argument: “This is what’s brand new about what’s happening right now, is [that] the redistricting happening now, it usually happened after a census, or in some rare cases, if there is such a change in population or demographics, they feel like they have to do something. Now it’s being done- and everybody’s admitting it- it’s just for politics.”
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