Virginia Republicans taken aback by Trump's claim the election was rigged against them
When voters in Virginia approved Democrats' plan to redraw the commonwealth's congressional districts in retaliation for mid-decade Republican gerrymanders, President Donald Trump went to his go-to accusation that the vote had been "rigged." Close Trump allies, like far-right activist Laura Loomer, made similar claims.Republicans in Virginia, however, never got the memo about that, according to The Bulwark."At no point had allegations of misconduct come from any actual on-the-ground Republicans," wrote Andrew Egger. "No one in the Fairfax County GOP alleged any funny business yesterday. Party Chair Katie Gorka — wife of C-list Trumpworld figure Sebastian Gorka — decried the Democrats’ 'hollow, shameful victory,' but made no allegations of fraud. When I reached out to the county party to get her response to Trump’s allegation, she did not reply."Furthermore, noted Egger, "I live in Fairfax County, so just for fun I swung by the party office to see if anyone there had heard about any fraud: the friendly pair of front-desk volunteers I talked to, Bob and Nancy Hoyler, said that 'we haven’t really heard anything about that.' (Then again, Bob added, 'they never tell us anything.')"The referendum in question allows Democrats to replace Virginia's current map, created through a nonpartisan process, with one that gives Democrats four extra seats, leaving only one district in the entire state that favors Republicans. This comes after Republicans in Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri redrew their maps at Trump's demand to give their party extra seats, and California retaliated with a referendum that tilted five GOP seats toward Democrats.As of press time, a right-wing state court in Virginia has blocked the referendum from being certified or enforced, but the state Supreme Court is widely expected to reverse that decision and let it move forward.