A Virginia judge temporarily blocks Democrats from working on a congressional redistricting effort

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia court on Thursday temporarily blocked Democrats from preparing for a voter referendum in April to redraw the state’s congressional maps, giving the party another setback in its effort to pick up four more U.S. House seats in a national redistricting battle.

Read more: Judge finds redistricting resolution introduced by Virginia Democrats illegal on technical grounds

The Tazewell Circuit Court in Virginia granted a temporary restraining order requested by the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee regarding the timing and wording of the ballot referendum.

The motion, also signed by Republican U.S. Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith, argued that Democrats were pushing redistricting bills through the Legislature despite legal hurdles preventing such a rushed process.

This is the second time Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. has ruled against Democrats’ redistricting agenda. In January, Hurley ruled that a resolution to amend the Constitution had been illegally passed in a special legislative session and taken up too close to an election.

That case was appealed to the state Supreme Court, and the justices said they would allow the referendum to continue while they review the appeal.

President Donald Trump launched an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle last year by pushing Texas Republican officials to redraw districts to help his party win more seats. The goal was for the Republican Party to maintain a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the face of political headwinds that would normally favor the party out of power in midterm elections.

Instead, it created a redistricting battle at the national level. So far, Republicans believe they can win an additional nine seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats believe they can win six additional seats in California and Utah, and they hope to fully or partially offset the margin of the remaining three seats in Virginia.

Diaz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.