Fair Maps Virginia was a left-of-center issue advocacy campaign launched by left-of-center redistricting advocacy group OneVirginia2021 (now known as UpVote Virginia) to promote the passage of a state constitutional amendment in the 2020 elections in Virginia that would establish an independent redistricting commission to draw district lines for state legislative and U.S. Congressional districts, taking that power away from the state legislature.

The Fair Maps Virginia campaign, while supported by many national left-of-center groups, was at odds with many Democratic politicians and organizations in Virginia who initially supported the efforts but later opposed them after control of the state legislature switched from Republican to Democratic in 2019. The constitutional amendment passed in the 2020 election and the subsequently formed commission failed to reach a consensus on approving maps, causing the maps to be drawn by the state Supreme Court. ^{1 2 3 4}

Background

The Fair Maps Virginia campaign was launched in 2020 as a separate advocacy group by OneVirginia2021, a group formed in 2014 with the intention of influencing the redistricting process following the 2020 Census to pass more competitive state legislative and congressional maps in Virginia, which had a Republican majority in the state legislature and the state’s U.S. House delegation at the time. ⁵

OneVirginia2021 went dormant following the 2020 election and was relaunched and rebranded in 2023 as UpVote Virginia, an advocacy group focused on voting and election issues that supports left-of-center election policies including ranked choice voting and campaign finance restrictions. The group continues to lobby for new redistricting policies, stating that the work of the redistricting commission the group advocated to form in its previous iteration was “marred by partisan infighting, and there is clearly more work to be done to work towards a fully independent process in advance of the next redistricting cycle.” ^{6 7}

2020 Election

Fair Maps Virginia was the main entity advocating  in the 2020 election for the passage of ballot amendment 1, a constitutional amendment that would wrest control of the state legislative and U.S. congressional redistricting process from the state legislature. The effort was supported by many in Democratic politics in Virginia who felt that such a commission would result in friendlier maps for Democratic candidates when the legislature was controlled by Republicans. ⁸  

In 2019, control of the legislature flipped to Democrats and the Fair Maps Virginia campaign became at odds with many Democrats in the state as well as the Democratic Party of Virginia, which wanted the newly Democratic legislature to control the redistricting process. According to press reports, the state Democratic Party “voted in its June virtual convention to oppose the amendment that legislative Democrats had enthusiastically and overwhelmingly supported one year earlier.” ⁹

Supporters

The Fair Maps Virginia campaign was supported by a variety of left-of-center advocacy groups, and newspaper editorial boards including the Washington Post, the League of Women Voters, ACLU Virginia, Common Cause, the Brennan Center for Justice, FairVote, and the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. ¹⁰

Aftermath

The constitutional amendment to form an independent redistricting commission supported by Fair Maps Virginia passed in the 2020 election. The subsequently formed commission was criticized for its inability to reach a consensus and ultimately failed to approve maps, causing the final maps for the 2021 redistricting process to be drawn by the Virginia Supreme Court. ¹¹

1. Vozzella, Laura. “Virginia Supreme Court approves redrawn congressional, General Assembly maps.” Washington Post. December 28, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/12/28/virginia-redistricting-final-maps-supreme-court/
2. “Home.” Fair Maps Virginia. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.fairmapsva.org/
3. “Home.” One Virginia 2021 Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.onevirginia2021foundation.org/
4. Lewis, Bob. “Fair Maps Virginia campaign aims to get voters to embrace redistricting commission amendment.” Virginia Mercury. July 21, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/07/21/nonprofit-group-fair-maps-virginia-launches-campaign-to-get-voters-to-embrace-redistricting-commission-amendment/
5. “Home.” One Virginia 2021 Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.onevirginia2021foundation.org/
6. “Get Informed.” UpVote Virginia. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://upvoteva.org/get-informed
7. “Home.” One Virginia 2021 Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.onevirginia2021foundation.org/
8. Lewis, Bob. “Fair Maps Virginia campaign aims to get voters to embrace redistricting commission amendment.” Virginia Mercury. July 21, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/07/21/nonprofit-group-fair-maps-virginia-launches-campaign-to-get-voters-to-embrace-redistricting-commission-amendment/
9. Lewis, Bob. “Fair Maps Virginia campaign aims to get voters to embrace redistricting commission amendment.” Virginia Mercury. July 21, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2020/07/21/nonprofit-group-fair-maps-virginia-launches-campaign-to-get-voters-to-embrace-redistricting-commission-amendment/
10. “Endorsements.” Fair Maps Virginia. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.fairmapsva.org/endorsements/
11. Vozzella, Laura. “Virginia Supreme Court approves redrawn congressional, General Assembly maps.” Washington Post. December 28, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/12/28/virginia-redistricting-final-maps-supreme-court/