“Worst possible news!” Trump gets what he deserves in court

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled against Republican attempts to halt a ballot initiative, allowing it to proceed on April 21st. This initiative empowers the Democratic legislature to draw a new 10-1 congressional map, which is expected to secure four additional seats for Democrats in the 2026 election.

The state supreme court dealt a near fatal blow to the Republican gambit by saying that in fact the referendum can go forward on April 21st. That the Supreme Court will take this case up in the ordinary course which will extend past that deadline. And that has sent the Republicans of Virginia into a stone cold panic because let's be honest, Brian, once the people have voted, if in fact the people vote in favor of this 10-1 map, you can put it in the books in ink and close them. That's going to be the map for 2026.

Donald Trump's push for aggressive gerrymandering in Texas, aiming for five Republican seats, inadvertently sparked a counter-movement. Democratic legal victories and ballot initiatives in states like California (gaining five seats), Virginia (projected four seats), New York (one seat), and Utah (one seat) are collectively projected to net Democrats a significant number of seats, potentially leading to a net gain even after accounting for Republican efforts in other states.

So Texas is five seats that Trump felt entitled to. So now we might be in a position where we can net more seats than before Trump even sparked off this whole process... Then you've got New York, which I mentioned, the case that my law firm is involved in where the the court is ordered a redraw of Staten Island, which is a Republican district. So, that would flip a seat there... So that's Democrats plus two. Uh then you've got Virginia plus four. So that's Democrats plus six.

The US Supreme Court's decision on the 'Klay' case, which pertains to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and mandates minority opportunity districts, is highly anticipated. However, the longer the decision is delayed, the less impact it will have on the 2026 elections, as states with early primaries will have already finalized their maps. Historically, significant cases are decided later in the term (June/July).

We don't know when the Supreme Court is going to do this... every day that goes by, it becomes harder for Klay to impact the 2026 elections. And there's no one bright line date where kind of that happens. It's a rolling schedule. There are some states that have early primaries and for those states, frankly, it's already too late... Historically, the most significant cases get decided in June or even early July.