Virginia supervisors oppose splitting their county into 3 districts

The Augusta County Board of Supervisors formally declared its opposition to the constitutional amendment that would divide Augusta County among three congressional districts in Virginia.

On Feb. 23, the supervisors spoke briefly to the possibility of a resolution. They followed this up at the Feb. 25 board meeting, where a non-binding resolution on redistricting was unanimously passed. The resolution is still urging residents to vote April 21.

Rather than following in the path of Spotsylvania and Patrick counties in attempting to block their election departments from administering the election, the resolution states the board’s opposition to the districts as they would stand if the amendment is passed April 21. The resolution confirms the board opposes:

• “The timing of early voting on the constitutional amendment referendum in violation of Article XII § 1 of the Constitution of Virginia.”
• “The wording ‘restore fairness’ in the ballot question for the constitutional amendment referendum which presupposes that current congressional districting is unfair, thereby misleading voters.”
• “The congressional redistricting of Augusta County by Virginia House Bill 29, into three separate congressional districts where there is currently only one.”

What’s happened so far?

The redistricting amendment followed President Donald Trump’s efforts to redraw Texas’ congressional maps into those favoring Republicans. Should those efforts, or those in any other state considering redistricting, succeed, the amendment would allow Virginia to redraw its maps outside of the regular 10-year census cycle.

Voters would need to approve the amendment before redistricting could move forward. Earlier this year, the General Assembly approved a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to modify congressional districts outside of the regular once-per-census redistricting. The General Assembly agreed to send the amendment to voters twice, first when it passed H.J. 6007 in October 2025 and again when it passed H.J. 4 in January.

A special election for the amendment was set for April 21, but on Jan. 27, Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the redistricting amendment, saying lawmakers did not follow the proper courthouse posting procedures to approve the amendment before passing it. Virginia Democrats appealed the decision to the Virginia Court of Appeals, which then asked the Supreme Court of Virginia to take the case.

Despite the legal battle, the legislature fought to get redistricting on the ballot ahead of the November mid-presidential term elections. Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed H.B. 1384 into law Feb. 6, a bill that changed the sections of state code central to the legal case against the redistricting amendment, sought to move the case to the Richmond City Circuit Court, and once again set the special election for April 21.

The Virginia Supreme Court on Feb. 13 allowed the special election to move forward but isn’t expected to rule on the legal standing of the case until after it occurs. National Republicans and Sixth District Representative Ben Cline filed a second lawsuit attempting to block the election and the same Tazewell County judge issued a second local court order blocking the election. Attorney General Jay Jones said he would appeal.

Staunton and Waynesboro’s registrars have confirmed they are preparing for the election.

Supervisor Mike Shull pushes back against critics

Supervisor Mike Shull, after the vote was passed, emphatically denied any accusation he was attempting to suppress Augusta County’s ability to vote in the election. On Feb. 23, Shull asked if the board wanted to consider a resolution on the redistricting amendment and referenced the Patrick and Spotsylvania county resolutions. He said he did not have a recommendation for the board, just that he wanted to board to talk about the subject.

“I did not say anything the other day about suppressing the vote,” said Shull on Feb. 25. “Not one word did I say suppress the vote the other day, so this [resolution] shows that we’re still leaving the election open. You can go vote when you want to.”

The resolution, as passed, also states the “Board of Supervisors encourages all Augusta County voters to vote in the upcoming special election/referendum.”

Shull was also critical of the legislature, saying “if Richmond wants to redistrict, redistrict the whole western part and put us in West Virginia.” He felt that the splitting of Augusta County into three districts rather than the current one district would “suppress our vote in Augusta County, because you’ll have somebody representing you outside of the county that don’t know anything about the people here.”

Similar to Augusta, the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution against redistricting on Feb. 25.

The full text is not yet available on the county’s website

The resolution was not listed on the supervisor’s agenda ahead of the meeting and was not added to the Feb. 25 agenda packet after it was passed. Resolutions, however, can be passed without being listed on the agenda. The agenda also contains a memo on a closed session held right before the supervisors voted on the resolution. The closed session included legal consultation on the “resolution regarding Constitutional amendment referendum and congressional redistricting.”

Ahead of the closed session and vote, one public speaker asked the board to consider a resolution opposing the redistricting election. After the closed session, Supervisor Carolyn Bragg introduced an amendment to the resolution, adding the Virginia Supreme Court to the list of bodies the resolution would be sent to. It was unanimously passed.

A copy of the full text of the resolution, without Bragg’s amendment, can be found on Supervisor Scott Seaton’s Facebook page. Seaton added his thoughts on the amendment to the post.

“Vote NO on the redistricting referendum,” Seaton posted to social media. “Early voting starts 3/6/26 with election day 4/21/26. The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the following resolution last night explaining how the referendum will be detrimental to the residents of Augusta County.”

Reporting by Lyra Bordelon, Staunton News Leader