The York-James City-Williamsburg branch of the NAACP held a town hall Monday night, responding to political ads and mailers for next Tuesday's redistricting vote that civil rights leaders call misleading.
“It became the 11th hour toward the 21st and we said, ‘Someone needs to educate the community; Why not us?’” said Charles Gates, incoming branch president.
Virginia has gained national attention after Democratic lawmakers began a redistricting push after campaigns by Republicans in states such as Texas and North Carolina. The proposed district map favors Democrats and could give the party a 10 to 1 split of the commonwealth’s federal representatives; they currently have a six-to-five majority.
“Virginia has decided to not stay on the sideline to make sure that we level the playing field,” said Del. Mark Downey, who represents parts of Newport News and Gloucester, York and James City counties.
Political groups on both sides of the issue have spent millions in ad buys. Panel members discussed how prevalent TV and online ads, and fliers landing in Virginians' mailboxes are employing civil rights imagery and the likeness of former President Barack Obama to oppose the referendum; some ads compare the redistricting proposal to Jim Crow laws. It’s drawn outrage from some Black leaders who say the campaigns are intentionally deceptive.
Opponents of the referendum, however, argue the ads are an appropriate backlash to changes to the map they say disenfranchises minorities and rural residents through gerrymandering. Former Del. A.C. Cardozo chairs two political action committees tied to the opposing campaign and was the only Black Republican in the Virginia House until this year. He has told people upset by the mailers to “grow up.”
“This is what accountability looks like,” he said at a March news conference in Richmond.
Virginians in 2020 voted to create a bipartisan redistricting commission, taking that power away from the General Assembly. But the commission failed to approve new maps by its deadline in 2021, and the commonwealth’s districts were drawn by the Supreme Court.
If successful, the referendum will temporarily give the General Assembly the power to implement the proposed maps ahead of the midterm elections in November. That would sunset in 2030 and revert back to the bipartisan commission unless state lawmakers brought the issue back to the voters.
