EXCLUSIVE — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) raised half a million dollars last weekend to combat a ballot measure backed by Democrats that could reshape Virginia‘s congressional map.
Johnson headlined a rally on Saturday opposing the gerrymandering push alongside former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin in Great Falls, Virginia. After the event, Johnson attended a private fundraiser, where he raised $500,000 to fight against the amendment.
The amendment, which will be decided in a special election on April 21, would allow Democrats to redraw Virginia’s 11 congressional districts mid-decade. If successful, the amendment would shift Virginia’s current congressional map from a 6-5 Democratic majority to a 10-1 Democratic majority.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has argued the gerrymander is needed to push back against similar mid-decade redistricting efforts that have been adopted in Republican states such as Texas.
“Virginians have the opportunity to respond to the actions of other states and a President who says he’s ‘entitled’ to more GOP seats in Congress,” Spanberger wrote in a post on X.
Republicans say the gerrymandering push amounts to a power grab by Democrats and will disenfranchise Virginia’s Republican and independent voters. In 2024, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris carried Virginia by roughly 5 percentage points against President Donald Trump.
“This is not a 10-1 state,” Johnson said during the rally in Great Falls. “They want to redraw the maps so that there’s 10 Democrats and only one Republican representing the state of Virginia.”
Johnson’s fundraiser comes as Republicans are beginning to spend heavily in hopes of defeating the ballot measure. The race at the moment appears tight. A recent poll from George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government shows the amendment winning by only 5 points, despite Democrats having raised more than $50 million for the effort.
Early voting numbers to date show turnout strong in GOP areas of the state, giving Republicans hopes of pulling off an upset.
“Virginians put in place the foundations for the most extraordinary experiment of self-governance in human history,” Johnson said. “It’s the greatest nation in the history of the world, and right now, in 10 days, Virginia, once again, has the responsibility and the privilege to defend that great nation.”
Apart from raking in $500,000 for the Virginia effort, Johnson also raised $34 million in the first quarter of this year. The sum does not include funds raised by Johnson’s endorsed super PAC.
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“We’ve worked hard to begin this historic election year with our strongest fundraising quarter ever. As more and more Americans recognize exactly what is at stake this year, our momentum will continue to grow,” Johnson wrote in a press release obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Johnson has distributed over $64 million to members, campaigns, committees, and state parties this midterm election, as he fights to keep the House majority.
