Pinwheels and the ‘lobster district’: How Virginia Democrats drew up a US House map to all but lock out Republicans

Virginia Democrats hope the new congressional map they’re asking voters to approve Tuesday will flip four Republican House districts, delivering 10 of 11 seats in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won with just 52% of the vote in 2024. Here’s how they drew it up.The plan dramatically reworks entire sections of the state, slicing up deep blue districts in the Washington, DC, suburbs and around Richmond, and creates a new district running along the Blue Ridge Mountains that connects liberal cities.Virginia’s current map, which was drawn by a pair of court-appointed redistricting experts in 2021, is compact and...