Abigail Spanberger faces a national test with Virginia redistricting

Virginia Democrats are pressuring Gov. Abigail Spanberger to more aggressively campaign for an April special election referendum that would redraw the state's congressional maps to give Democrats a 10-to-1 seat advantage — potentially flipping four additional House seats. Despite launching her first ad supporting the measure this week and endorsing it, party insiders say Spanberger is doing the bare minimum compared to other Democratic governors like California's Gavin Newsom, and warn she will bear the blame if the referendum fails with less than one month to go. The stakes are personal: a loss could damage her rising national profile as a newly elected moderate governor. Complicating Democrats' efforts, a Roanoke College poll found nearly two-thirds of Virginians support the current redistricting method, and the Virginia Supreme Court has reserved the right to nullify the outcome after the April election. Some Democrats privately expect Spanberger to ramp up involvement in the campaign's final weeks.