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“To pass an amendment, lawmakers must vote for it in two separate legislative sessions, with an intervening election in between,” according to reporting cited in the case.
Democrats tried arguing that because Election Day had not officially arrived yet, they were still within the legal window. But the Virginia Supreme Court wasn’t buying it.
By the time lawmakers acted, nearly 40 percent of ballots had already been cast through early voting.
Justice Arthur Kelsey delivered the blow Democrats feared most.
“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” Kelsey wrote in the court’s decision.
“While the Commonwealth is free by its lights to do the right thing for the right reason, the Rule of Law requires that it be done the right way.”
That single ruling instantly vaporized Democrats’ ambitious effort to redraw Virginia into a congressional map heavily tilted in their favor.
Republicans argued the proposal was a blatant gerrymander disguised as “reform,” designed to stretch Democrat-heavy urban votes across the state to manufacture a nearly unbeatable 10-1 congressional advantage.
Now the entire operation is dead.
And with it, apparently, went more than $60 million.
According to reports, Democrat-aligned organizations dumped staggering amounts of cash into the Virginia redistricting push despite the Democratic National Committee already facing severe financial problems.
Some estimates placed total spending around $66 million.
Others pegged it closer to $62 million, much of it reportedly flowing through House Majority Forward, a group aligned with House Democrats.
Either way, donors now have an uncomfortable question: why did Democrats burn through tens of millions of dollars on a legally questionable scheme while the party itself is barely staying afloat financially?
The numbers are brutal.
Recent Federal Election Commission filings show the Republican National Committee massively outperforming the DNC in fundraising.
The RNC reportedly raised $18.5 million in February compared to just $10.3 million for Democrats.
The GOP also entered March sitting on roughly $109 million cash on hand.
The DNC?
Just $15.9 million.
Even worse for Democrats, the party reportedly carried more debt than available cash, including a $15 million loan taken out shortly before the 2024 election collapse.
The situation has only deteriorated further in recent months.
Additional reports showed the RNC later expanding its advantage to nearly eight-to-one over Democrats in available cash reserves.
At the same time, frustration inside Democrat donor circles has reportedly exploded.
According to reports, major bundlers and longtime Democrat donors remain furious over how party leadership handled spending during the 2024 election cycle.
Many are also reportedly angry that DNC Chairman Ken Martin has resisted publicly releasing an internal audit examining what went wrong for Democrats.
One Democrat source summed up the panic following the Virginia ruling in blunt terms.
“Damn, California and Virginia were supposed to be our bigger ones,” one House Democrat reportedly admitted.
“This means we gotta make sure we have a good wave to win the House … we have to make sure we win a lot of those toss-ups.”
“Democrats now have to pitch a perfect game.”
Another Democrat lawmaker offered an even shorter reaction:
“F*****ck!!”
The failed Virginia effort now represents far more than just a legal embarrassment.
It has become a symbol of a Democratic Party facing mounting internal chaos, dwindling donor enthusiasm, and growing fears that their path back to congressional power is rapidly slipping away.
Party insiders reportedly hoped victories in Virginia, California, and other off-year political fights would energize donors and reopen the cash pipeline.
That never happened.
Instead, donors appear increasingly skeptical about pouring money into expensive political experiments that collapse in court before delivering any results.
And now, after tens of millions of dollars were torched on a nullified referendum, convincing nervous donors to “roll themselves out of the fetal position” may become even harder than Democrats imagined.
