Virginia House: Four House Races Shift To Democrats
April 21, 2026 · 9:53 PM EDT
Updated April 23, 11:51am
Virginia voters approved a new congressional map on Tuesday that will help Democrats flip as many as four GOP-held seats this fall. The referendum passed, 51.5-48.6 percent, roughly half of the margin that Kamala Harris posted against President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Republican Reps. Rob Wittman, Jen Kiggans, John McGuire and Ben Cline saw their districts made significantly more favorable to Democrats or dismantled entirely. Republicans are still challenging the referendum in court, and a local judge enjoined the new map on Wednesday. But the ultimate authority on the matter, the state Supreme Court, has appeared hesitant to stop the new map from being used.
As a result, Inside Elections is making five ratings shifts in the Old Dominion.
1st District (Rob Wittman, R) shifts from Lean Republican to Solid Democratic.
2nd District (Jen Kiggans, R) shifts from Toss-up to Tilt Democratic.
5th District (John McGuire, R) shifts from Solid Republican to Solid Democratic.
6th District (Ben Cline, R) shifts from Solid Republican to Lean Democratic.
7th District (Eugene Vindman, D) shifts from Lean Democratic to Solid Democratic.
A full write-up of the changes to the Virginia map can be found in the April 16 issue.
Kiggans has said she will seek re-election to the 2nd District, though her path to victory is more difficult now. Cline gave a more cryptic answer, telling reporters he plans on “running in the current 6th District, where I currently live and have represented for eight years.” But that district does not exist on the new map, which placed Cline’s home in the neighboring 9th District.
For his part, 9th District Rep. Morgan Griffith isn’t too worried about Cline running against him, telling Punchbowl, “it’s 81 percent my district.”
Vindman, as expected, said he would run in the new 1st District, opening up the 7th District. And at least one Democrat got a new primary challenger in the hours after the referendum passed, as former fighter pilot Jason Knapp switched from running in the 1st District to challenge Don Beyer in the new 8th District.
Democrats need a net gain of three seats nationwide to win back the House majority this fall. After these ratings changes, Democrats are favored in 216 districts, Republicans are favored in 210 districts, and 9 districts are rated as toss-ups. The magic number for a majority is 218.
The Virginia results give Democrats the potential edge in the mid-decade redistricting war that was started by the White House in order to try and preserve the GOP majority. But Democrats striking back with new maps in California and Virginia might have some Republican strategists second-guessing whether it was worth the effort.
VA1 Wittman, R — Solid Democratic (from Lean Republican)
VA2 Kiggans, R — Tilt Democratic (from Toss-up)
VA3 Scott, D — Solid Democratic
VA4 McClellan, D — Solid Democratic
VA5 McGuire, R — Solid Democratic (from Solid Republican)
VA6 Cline, R — Lean Democratic (from Solid Republican)
VA7 Vindman, D — Solid Democratic (from Lean Democratic)
VA8 Beyer, D — Solid Democratic
VA9 Griffith, R — Solid Republican
VA10 Subramanyan, D — Solid Democratic
VA11 Walkinshaw, D — Solid Democratic