Opinion | What Democrats Should Do Now That They Have Turned Virginia Blue

The last time Virginia Democrats had unified control of state government was in 1993, under Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. But it was a very different party — with rural strongholds in south and southwestern Virginia — and a very different majority, with moderates, conservatives and just a smattering of liberals.

This new majority, elected on Tuesday, is the inverse of that majority. Its rural support is largely gone, replaced by deep gains in the suburbs and metro areas of Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. Its moderates are more liberal, its liberals are more left-wing (one incumbent in the House of Delegates, Lee Carter, is a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America), and its conservatives are a memory, casualties of past Republican victories.

This new majority, in other words, is the most progressive majority in Virginia legislative history. And with a liberal governor in Ralph Northam — who has somehow recovered from his “blackface” scandal — there’s now an opportunity to pass the kinds of policies that would sustain progressive victories and make the state a model for democratic reform.

Put another way, Virginia Democrats should run the Republican Party playbook in reverse. Since 2010, Republican state lawmakers across the country have made limiting the vote a priority wherever they’ve taken power. In 2011, after sweeping state legislative elections the previous year, Ohio Republicans ended same-day voter registration, substantially reduced early voting and introduced a strict voter identification law that failed only after the Republican secretary of state spoke out against it. Florida Republicans followed suit that same year, curbing voter registration drives and making it more difficult for former felons to restore their voting rights.

After wresting power from Democrats in 2010 and 2012, respectively, Wisconsin and North Carolina Republicans passed strict voter identification laws, although the laws were challenged and eventually struck down by federal courts. And most relevant to the case at hand is the fact that after winning control in 2009 and bolstering their majority in 2011, Virginia Republicans passed — and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed — a strict voter ID law. Two years later, they passed a new partisan gerrymander, entrenching the party’s advantage in congressional and state legislative elections.

Obviously, these voter restrictions and extreme partisan gerrymanders aren’t fair. But they work. Last year, for example, Wisconsin Republicans won a majority in the State Assembly while losing a majority of the vote statewide. Wisconsin Democrats would have to win a statewide landslide to win a bare majority of seats, while Republicans get half the vote and win a supermajority. Likewise, in Virginia, it took two consecutive elections for Democrats to win a bare majority in the State Legislature.

In Virginia at least, Democrats now have the power to change this — to make elections fairer and voting a more inclusive process. And the steps they should take are straightforward. Virginia does not have automatic and Election Day voter registration. It should. Virginia does not have mail-in balloting. It should. With this new liberal majority, Virginia Democrats could repeal that voter ID law, expand early and absentee voting, and automatically restore voting rights for ex-offenders. (As it stands, the governor must restore those rights on a case-by-case basis.) These steps don’t just expand the electorate — they shape it. Easier voting means more young and low-income voters, more progressive voters and a more durable base for future gains.

The most important reform Virginia Democrats could make is to revamp the redistricting process. Tuesday’s elections were held under maps different from those the Republicans put in place after the 2010 census. Those maps were based on an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, packing black voters into a handful of districts to protect Republican lawmakers from competition. After a lawsuit from the Democratic attorney general, a federal court invalidated those maps. The courts then adopted a map that altered more than two dozen districts, eliminating several Republican safe seats in the State Legislature and opening the door to a Democratic majority.

With full control of state government ahead of another census, Democrats could replace the current map of state legislative and congressional districts with one that would ensure fair competition and break unfair partisan advantages. They could even go the California route and establish a bipartisan commission to carry out comprehensive redistricting reform.

These proposals aren’t just the right thing to do. Liberals are more likely to succeed — more likely to turn an advantage with the public into an advantage with the electorate — when the rules are fair and voting is as open and easy as possible. If Virginia Democrats want to sustain their majority — and bring ambitious, progressive policy to the commonwealth — they need to create an electoral system that works for everyone.

Put differently, voting reform isn’t just about voting. There is no path to a more equitable society that doesn’t involve greater democratic participation. If Republicans have devoted their energy to restricting the electorate — if they’ve given up on persuading young people and immigrants and other marginal groups — then it’s up to Democrats to take a stand for democracy and the right to vote. And Virginia Democrats, in particular, have a unique opportunity to make the state a bona fide laboratory for democracy.

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