OAN Staff Addie Davis
11:08 AM – Thursday, April 23, 2026
During an interview on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” Pennsylvania Democrat Senator John Fetterman criticized Virginia’s recently approved redistricting plan, despite it heavily favoring his own party, saying, “I think everyone loses for that … Overall, we all lose at this point.”
Elaborating on his comment, he argued that when states engage in retaliatory gerrymandering, it creates a cycle that ultimately disenfranchises voters and erodes trust in the electoral process regardless of party.
Fetterman (D-Pa.) signaled support for a more unified federal approach to how lines are drawn, suggesting that leaving it to a state-by-state “arms race” is unsustainable for a healthy democracy.
“I understand this was all started after Texas kind of decided to do the same thing,” Fetterman said.
“[But] If we continue to just attack the other side, whether it’s a red state or whether it’s a blue state, our democracy is degraded,” Fetterman continued. “The people should pick the politicians, the politicians should never pick their politicians.”
On Tuesday, Virginia voters approved a Constitutional amendment that allows Democrat legislators in the state to redraw districting maps, giving their party more House seats in the upcoming midterm elections. The vote also comes as several states grapple with allegations of gerrymandering designed to tilt the scales in favor of one party.
Democrats, in particular, have highlighted last year’s mid-decade redistricting in Texas, a move that effectively cleared a path for Republicans to pick up five additional seats in the House.
Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) issued a statement in November 2025, defending the redistricting plan amidst legal backlash.
“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences — and for no other reason,” he stated.
Democrat proponents of the Virginia ballot measure have further framed it as a “defense against redistricting tactics” in other red states, rather than claiming it provides a perfectly neutral representation of the electorate.
Even as Fetterman acknowledged the special election in the Old Dominion as a direct byproduct of these external political maneuvers, he remained steadfast in his denunciation of the practice.
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