Richmond Submits Redistricting Plans, Special Session Begins Monday

The Virginia General Assembly has released redistricting plans in preparation for next week's once-a-decade special session to recalibrate state legislative districts.

Before becoming final, the plans must be approved by the General Assembly, the governor and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates' plan would keep Mount Vernon Patch in the 44th District, however, it could lose certain parts of the Richmond Highway corridor. Under the plan, Delegate Scott Surovell (D-44) loses the Huntington precinct—south of Huntington Avenue and west of Richmond Highway—to the 43rd District, which Delegate Mark Sickles (D) currently represents. The Bellehaven precinct would go to Delegate David Englin (D-45).

Under the plan for the Senate districts, Mount Vernon will remain in the 30th district; but the district, which will open with Senator Patsy Ticer (D-30) retirement later this year, is expected to grow into Fairfax County. The new 30th district would expand south into Lee district to include parts of Telegraph Road and along the eastern edge of the county along the George Washington Parkway and Potomac River. The district would also include the Mount Vernon estate.

The major changes for the 30th district reflect the need for Senator Toddy Puller (D-36) to lose residents, according to the 2010 Census results.

The magic number for House districts is 80,000 people and 200,000 for Senate districts. The General Assembly must debate and pass a measure for how much above and below these numbers the districts can be.

Patch will cover next week's special session and provide detailed information on how each district will change plans once the General Assembly approves them.