How One State Legislature Could Decide Congress

Democrats flipped the VA legislature in 2023. That off-year election lay the groundwork for Democrats to add four more seats to Congress in 2026.

Earlier this week, voters in Virginia approved a constitutional amendment to allow new Congressional maps ahead of the midterms in November. The move opens the door for Democrats to gain as many as four more seats in Congress, mitigating the aggressive redistricting efforts that Republicans pushed through last year in states like Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri. In fact, it may mean that the “redistricting arms race” sparked by the GOP results in a net difference of zero for either party – or even a slight Democratic advantage.

The vote in Virginia was a reminder of something too often overlooked in national politics: the balance of power in Congress is shaped long before voters ever cast a ballot in a federal race. State legislatures draw Congressional district maps, set election rules and procedures, and determine how fairly (or unfairly) voters are represented. It’s something Republicans figured out decades ago – the party that controls state legislatures controls Congress.

The ability for Virginia to take this step was only possible because Democrats secured total governing power at the state level in the Commonwealth’s 2025 general election; holding the legislature and winning the governorship. Those victories didn’t happen by accident. They were the result of sustained, strategic investment in state legislative races for years.

In fact, the 2023 elections in Virginia were an even more pivotal moment that laid the groundwork for this redistricting win. In 2023, Democrats took back control of the Virginia House of Delegates – and secured full control of the Virginia legislature.

There’s a straight line connecting state legislative wins in Virginia to Democrats gaining four more seats in Congress:

• 2023: Critical victories flipped control of the House of Delegates to Democrats while maintaining control of the Virginia Senate.

• Pre-Election 2025: Narrow Democratic majorities in the Virginia House and Virginia Senate passed a new constitutional amendment to temporarily respond to mid-decade redistricting in other states.

• 2025: Continued investment helped flip the Governorship and expand the Democratic majority in the House

• 2026 (now): A Democratic trifecta made action on Congressional maps possible

This moment would not have been possible without years of long-term power building. Since 2017, States Win and its community have helped elect dozens of Democrats in Virginia, steadily flipping seats and building toward a governing trifecta strong enough to act decisively.

Last year alone, States Win supported 17 candidates in Virginia, and every one of them won. Those victories flipped key seats, secured governing power, and helped build one of the most diverse legislative coalitions in the country.

And Virginia’s leadership hasn’t just acted on redistricting. Lawmakers in the Commonwealth have already begun advancing policies that directly impact people’s lives, on issues ranging from reproductive rights to voting access to economic security.

The amendment in Virginia is a reminder that control of Congress isn’t just decided every two years – it’s built over time, in statehouses across the country.

Legal challenges may continue, and the political stakes remain high. But one thing is already clear: voters in Virginia have demonstrated that state-level power can decide the outcome of federal races, even to which party controls the U.S. Congress.