DAVID MARCUS: Virginia's battle over gerrymandering betrays our broken politics

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – I met Debbie having a cigaret extracurricular my edifice this week. She is 80, a  great-grandmother of eight, and smokes arsenic overmuch arsenic overmuch arsenic I do. She was up from agrarian Georgia, and asked me, successful the sweetest dependable you ever heard, what each the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ signs connected the roads were about.

I gave Debbie a thumbnail mentation of the referendum acceptable for April 21 implicit whether to amend the authorities constitution, alteration the Virginia U.S. House of Representatives territory maps and spell from a 6-5 vantage for Democrats to a 10- 1 advantage. She simply smiled and said, "Well, these days, everyone’s yelling astir thing oregon other."

Signs impulse aboriginal voters to ballot yes oregon nary connected the Virginia redistricting referendum astatine the Ellen M. Bozman Government Center successful Arlington, Va., connected Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Early voting continues crossed the authorities for Virginia's redistricting ballot referendum. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

I was struck by her words. It had been my son’s occupation connected the mostly bucolic thrust southbound done the commonwealth to number the gait signs, a task helium good remembers from the past predetermination that besides keeps him disconnected his phone, benignant of.

We recovered astir 20 ‘Yes’ signs and 15 ‘No’ signs, the erstwhile mostly successful pricey suburbs, the second successful the agrarian areas Democrats are seeking to forcibly crook blue. One motion was up connected a tractor, but done Debbie’s eyes, I saw however absurd this show truly is.

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It is surreal, astir retired of a Jonathan Swift novel, to thrust hundreds of miles seeing signs that work simply "Yes," oregon "No." No context, nary meaning, conscionable prime a side. And that’s precisely however this run successful Virginia feels.

Jodie is simply a Democrat successful her 40s and is simply a teacher successful the Newport News area.

"This isn’t astir the motivation highground," she told me, adding, "because they don’t attraction astir the motivation precocious crushed and if lone we do, we lose."

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This sounded an atrocious batch similar the Republicans I spoke to successful Texas precocious defending their ain redistricting, which they precise plausibly accidental was successful effect to New England being 40% Republican yet has nary GOP House members.

Liam, a retired lifelong Virginian and Republican, seemed to recognize this dynamic.

President Joe Biden and then-Rep. Abigail Spanberger airs for a photograph successful the US Capitol. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

"It’s evidently unfair and anti Democratic, but past they accidental 'Texas did it, too,' truthful everyone conscionable goes with their ain team," helium told me.

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Another pistillate chimed in, overhearing america to simply say, "It’s a bloodbath now. Nobody talks."

From the earliest moments of our Republic, and adjacent a 100 years earlier successful England, omniscient men of authorities had feared that parties oregon factions would beryllium the decease of law governance due to the fact that they would enactment their differences up of the nation’s good.

In his farewell address, George Washington, who attended assemblage present successful Williamsburg, warned america each of parties and of the "ill-founded jealousies," that tin pb to "frightful despotism."

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Virginia’s redistricting, which efficaciously disenfranchises thousands of Republicans, is simply a bully illustration of it.

To spell from a 6-5 borderline to 10-1 is truthful fabulously anti-democratic and beyond the airy that galore Republicans consciousness definite that if they constituent this out, surely saner heads volition prevail.

The occupation is that Democratic voters I speech to cognize it's sketchy, they cognize Barack ObamaBarack Obama is lying astir it being astir fairness successful section TV ads, but they don’t care. For them, the Republicans are worse and indispensable beryllium beaten.

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Among the ironies of this happening successful Virginia, the authorities that produced James Madison, writer of our Constitution, is that the peculiar predetermination referendum successful 2 weeks volition person precise debased turnout, contempt law amendments supposedly requiring the highest barroom of popularity possible.

This referendum could easy beryllium the quality betwixt President Donald Trump spending the adjacent 2 years successful impeachment purgatory oregon being escaped to lead. Not lone volition it beryllium decided by a precise tiny radical of people, they are hardly talking to each other, from what I tin tell. 

My informing to Virginia Republicans is that winning hearts and minds won’t triumph this fight. It needs each the crushed crippled it tin muster, each the knocking connected doors, and yes, each the roadworthy and gait signs, due to the fact that this truly volition be, arsenic they say, each astir turnout.

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In the end, Debbie is right. Sadly, this referendum successful the birthplace of law practice has turned into small much than radical yelling astir something. I conjecture astatine slightest this time, connected the thrust location she volition cognize what they are yelling about.

Vote yes, Vote No, Vote Yes, Vote No. It's similar the aged Bugs Bunny routine. Maybe 1 broadside should effort the aged switcheroo, reverse science trick. At this point,

it would correspond much erudite sermon than anyone, different than possibly Debbie, seems to beryllium offering.

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