During special redistricting session, will Republicans stall, play ball or both?
The General Assembly will reconvene at noon on Thursday, called back to Richmond by Gov. Ralph Northam to address a federal court order requiring lawmakers to redraw 11 House of Delegates districts.
The court ruled in June that the districts were racially gerrymandered to contain a set threshold of black voters, diluting their political influence elsewhere. They gave lawmakers an Oct. 30 deadline to fix them — a process that will almost undoubtedly benefit Democrats at a time when Republicans are hanging onto control of the General Assembly by a razor-thin margin.
But not much is likely to happen, at least this week.
Pretty much everyone agrees at this point that the Thursday session is unlikely to yield any substantial progress.
House Democrats and the governor have drawn up a redistricting plan on their own and will introduce it, but the Republican majority is likely to send it to committee, which is unlikely to act on it anytime soon, said Bob Holsworth, a former VCU political science professor.
Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2018/08/29/during-special-redistricting-session-will-republicans-stall-play-ball-or-both/