OPINION:
From the moment you see their television commercials, you know they’re lying. You don’t even have to know anything about the issue to tell that dishonesty is everywhere.
The Virginia Democrats who created the most ridiculous partisan gerrymander in the entire country are trying to sell it as a reasonable idea, but their story can’t stand up to even the slightest scrutiny.
Their ads ask people to support “fair elections” while they obscure the details of their plan to force the adoption of a new congressional map, rigged by partisans, in time for the midterm elections.
It’s the same dishonest language voters will find in the actual ballot question in next month’s referendum on whether to scrap the existing map and replace it with one custom-made for certain Democratic politicians.
The question amounts to a push poll, asking voters whether they want to amend the Virginia Constitution “to restore fairness” to elections, without offering any clue as to what might currently be unfair about political contests in the commonwealth.
Referendum day is April 21, and early voting is underway.
To Virginia Democrats, “fairness” means taking a map that produced a Democrat-to-Republican split of 6-to-5 in Congress and twisting it into a 10-1 farce favoring themselves. Their intent is to wipe four Republican members of Congress out of existence.
Then, to top it off, they ludicrously claim that this wipeout of the Republicans will be only “temporary,” as if the four new Democratic members of Congress will happily give up their seats after an election or two.
If they are successful, Democrats will have blown up the independent, bipartisan redistricting commission voters approved just six years ago. They comically promise to get it back on track again right after they finish destroying it.
How could anyone possibly believe them?
No one should, especially since The Daily Wire reported that Virginia elections officials instructed local registrars to withhold key information from voters. The localities were told not to post pictures of the proposed map that voters are being asked to approve.
The only thing people will have to go on is the information contained in the ballot question itself, which we already know was written specifically to achieve a desired outcome.
Democrats, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who previously promised not to do this, say they have no choice because of what Republicans have done in other states. Yet all outside experts agree that Virginia’s new map would be the most extreme example of gerrymandering anywhere in the nation.
It proves that they are willing to punish their own residents, whom they have sworn to represent, because their national party doesn’t like what someone did somewhere else.
Rep. Donald Beyer, a Virginia Democrat taking up space in Congress, plainly admitted it.
Mr. Beyer supports the gerrymander “even though this seems unfair in Virginia,” he told NBC News, because it’s part of the larger Democratic Party plan “to stop Donald Trump.”
Suddenly, it’s no longer about “restoring fairness.”
Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas, the acidic and profane architect of the whole monstrosity, was even more pointed.
“Anyone against our redistricting efforts to stand up to Donald Trump doesn’t share our values as Democrats,” she posted on X.
Ms. Lucas directed those comments at Mark Moran, a former Wall Street guy turned reality TV star who is primarying another Virginia Democrat, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner.
Mr. Moran is a Democrat who gets it. He called the plan “extremely anti-democratic” in the post that drew Ms. Lucas’ response.
The entire fiasco has consumed Ms. Spanberger in her early days on the job, on top of a chaotic first legislative session that generated a blizzard of leftist bills headed to her desk for her expected signature.
“Abby Spanberger spent eight years building a brand as a ‘normal,’ mainstream Democrat — and it’s been set on fire in less than three months,” Michael LaRosa, a former spokesman for Jill Biden, said in The Washington Post.
That NBC story that quoted Mr. Beyer was likely intended as a wake-up call to Democrats, because it ran under a headline that described the referendum vote as “not a done deal.” This implies that Democrats initially thought winning was assured and that they are also surprised by how poorly their plan is being received by the public.
A recent Roanoke College poll found that 62% of Virginians support the existing bipartisan commission approach and that 52% intend to vote against the referendum.
Those are heartening numbers for those opposed, but no one should underestimate Democrats’ ability to lie with great conviction.
Outright deceit is their only option because their scheme is indefensible.
So, please, if you live in Virginia, reject the absurdity and vote no by April 21.
• Tim Murtaugh, a Virginia voter, is a Washington Times columnist and founder of Line Drive Public Affairs. He served as a senior adviser on the 2024 Trump campaign and as communications director on the 2020 Trump campaign.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.