What Went Down In The June 21 Elections In Alabama, Virginia And Georgia

In 2020, Virginia voters passed a ballot measure that created a bipartisan commission to redraw the state’s congressional districts. However, in a reminder that redistricting commissions are no panacea, Democrats and Republicans on the commission deadlocked, forcing a court to step in. Special masters Bernard Grofman and Sean Trende drew the map below, one of the fairest of the cycle.

Notably, the map made life harder for one Democratic incumbent seeking reelection this year, but it made things easier for another. The map moves Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria’s 2nd District from a FiveThirtyEight partisan lean of R+2 to R+6. However, it took Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s 7th District from R+5 all the way to D+2 by adding in more of the Washington, D.C., suburbs.