2026年3月5日 / 美国东部时间上午10:53 / CBS新闻
前总统巴拉克·奥巴马呼吁弗吉尼亚州选民支持今年春季的一项公投措施，该措施将修改该州宪法，使有利于民主党的新国会选区边界在今年秋季的中期选举中生效。
周四上午，奥巴马在社交媒体发布的视频中指出，中期重新划分选区的浪潮始于去年，当时得克萨斯州共和党人开始着手转移五个民主党席位，使其更有利于共和党人。
此后，加利福尼亚州民主党人成功重新绘制了涉及五个共和党控制席位的选区边界，试图抵消得克萨斯州的选区操纵行为。北卡罗来纳州和密苏里州的共和党人去年也各自修改了一个民主党控制的席位，以试图帮助共和党。
“4月，弗吉尼亚州民众可以通过确保你们的投票权不会因其他州共和党人的所作所为而被削弱，来做出回应，”民主党人奥巴马在视频中表示。“这项修正案将赋予你们在今年秋季中期选举中实现公平竞争的力量。”
共和党人在美国众议院仅以微弱优势占据多数席位，并且面临着今年秋季所有席位都将参与投票时失去众议院控制权的可能性。
弗吉尼亚州民主党人的重新划分选区工作被证明是一个漫长的过程，法律争议一直围绕着大部分工作展开，并为结果带来了一些不确定性。目前该州的选区地图在2024年选举中为民主党赢得了六个众议院席位，共和党赢得了五个。今年由民主党当选领导人提出的计划将试图调整这些选区边界，使10名民主党人重返众议院，仅一名共和党人。
“民主党非法操纵选区以攫取权力，这是对民主的公然冒犯，通过操纵地图试图将弗吉尼亚变成一党制州，”弗吉尼亚州共和党上月在社交媒体上表示，“这是一场蓄意压制和剥夺我们半个州人民选举权的阴谋。”
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2020年人口普查后，民主党和共和党主导的州都沉迷于这种由来已久的选区操纵做法，绘制有利于自身政党的选区，降低了竞争性选举的可能性。
但一系列影响2026年中期选举的中期重新划分选区本质上代表了对传统做法的突破，并使民主党不得不收回其在该问题上的部分过往表态。“长期以来，选区操纵导致改革停滞不前，并扭曲了我们的代议制政府，”奥巴马本人在2020年的社交媒体上表示。
全州范围内的投票定于4月21日举行，以决定是否修改弗吉尼亚州宪法，并赋予州议会在大选竞赛前数月调整选区地图的权力。提前投票将于周五开始。
弗吉尼亚州更倾向于成为摇摆州，目前尚不清楚4月21日的特别选举中宪法修正案的结果会如何。共和党人普遍反对这一努力，而佛罗里达州共和党主导的额外国会选区调整可能会削弱弗吉尼亚州任何变化的影响。
Obama calls on voters to help Democrats’ Virginia redistricting ahead of midterm elections
March 5, 2026 / 10:53 AM EST / CBS News
Former President Barack Obama is calling on voters in Virginia to support a ballot measure this spring that would change the commonwealth’s constitution and cause new congressional district boundaries benefiting Democrats to be used in this fall’s midterm elections.
In a video posted to social media on Thursday morning, Obama noted the surge of mid-decade redistricting started last year when Texas Republicans started work to shift five Democratic seats and make them more favorable to Republicans.
Since then, California Democrats were able to redraw the lines involving five GOP-held seats to try and offset Texas’ gerrymander. Republicans in North Carolina and Missouri last year also altered a Democratic-held seat in each of their respective states to try and help the GOP.
“In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states,” Obama, a Democrat, said in the video. “This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall.”
Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House and are contending with the prospect of losing control of the chamber this fall when every seat is on the ballot.
Virginia Democrats’ redistricting effort has proven to be a lengthy process, and legal concerns have surrounded much of the work and thrown some uncertainty into the outcome. The commonwealth’s map in place at the moment resulted in six House seats for Democrats in the 2024 election and five for Republicans. Plans offered by elected Democratic leaders this year would try and shift those lines in a way that could result in sending 10 Democrats back to the House and just one Republican.
“Democrats’ illegal gerrymandering power grab is an affront to democracy and rigs our maps to turn Virginia into a one-party state,” the Republican Party of Virginia said last month on social media, adding “It is an intentional effort to silence and disenfranchise half our Commonwealth.”
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After the 2020 Census, both Democratic and Republican led states indulged in the well-worn practice of gerrymandering, drawing districts that favored their own parties and lessening the chances of competitive races.
But the series of mid-decade redraws impacting the 2026 midterms essentially represent a break from tradition and have put Democrats in the position of having to backtrack on some of their past messaging on the issue. “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government,” Obama himself said on social media in 2020.
A statewide vote is set for April 21 on whether to change Virginia’s constitution and give the General Assembly the ability to change the maps just months before general election contests will be held. Early voting is set to start Friday.
Virginia is more of a purple state, and it’s unclear what will happen to the constitutional amendment in the April 21 special election. Republicans widely oppose the effort, and additional congressional redistricting in GOP-led Florida could lessen the impact of any changes made in Virginia.