This plan splits Fairfax County's Woodburn precinct (#717) in half and separates our residents from local FCPS schools, our nearest post office, and our member of Congress who has known our neighborhood for decades.

It seems to me that an independent commission formed to do away with what looks like gerrymandering could have come up with a map that better represents "us". Sorry to see this go to the courts (again), but somebody has to try and get it right.

I don't like the way the districts containing independent voters around Richmond have been redrawn. In particular, voters in Goochland, Powhatan, and Northern Chesterfield counties have been combined with very rural counties. This has the effect of nullifying the votes of those who are not Republican.

Not good representation-stop the gerrymandering please. Let the Districts be reflective of the people!

The map for the 7th district is a mess and should be re-drawn. Cutting out most of Henrico and Chesterfield is proportionally wrong. This map is no better than what we previously had. I voted NO to Amendment One and this is why...it's obvious just how unbiased the redraw is. Epic Fail!

Start from scratch or leave the districts as they are. The Bi-partisan committee was supposed to develop maps devoid of partisanship but the result is tilting the maps in favor of Republicans. The population of the state is shifting and becoming more democratic rather than republican. The new maps need to reflect that reality. Please start over with mapping consultants that are not in the pockets of either party.

This redistributing map is not bipartisan. It splits the Blue districts to water them down - very sly and crafty. There has to be a way more fair than this!

The citizens of Virginia took nonpartisan redistricting so seriously we voted to amend our Constitution to that end and now this redistricting process is failing us. The intent is to draw as many competitive districts as possible. And yet, the National Republican Redistricting Trust helped draw this map which favors their party. As to my community, Powhatan County is much closer to Richmond and is adjacent to the Richmond suburbs than any county that borders North Carolina.

It is my understanding that redistricting is supposed to try to keep localities and communities together. Instead, this map splits Henrico into three separate Congressional districts, which dilutes their ability to advocate for their needs. Also, the new boundaries of the 5th district would now encapsulate where I live in Midlothian. This district is now extremely large geographically and I know the concerns of suburban Richmond will be quite different than those of the much more rural areas it now includes. I hope this redistricting proposal does not move forward as it stands.

There shouldn't be political objectives of redistricting. It should be "colorblind". Divide Virginia into compact communities of interest and let the people vote for who they want.

My recommendation regarding redistricting is to work off of our current maps and make adjustments as needed. Try to disrupt the fewest citizens as possible overall. We know the 1st and the 7th Congressional districts need to be smaller. We know that the 9th needs to be larger. In one of the proposed maps Western Henrico and Chesterfield are drawn into completely different congressional districts. These two counties alone make up 2/3 of the current 7th. We are also two communities of many similarities in terms of population demographics, job industries, schooling, and community resources. Please consider how this separation would impact possibly over 500,000 citizens in suburan Virginia. Thank you

Virginia Is leaning more Democratic every year. We should maintain those majorities. Virginia is NOT Texas.

I voted in 2020 for bipartisan redistricting because I believe in not handing either political party an unfair advantage and partisan benefits. As a result, I have been shocked to see CD7 being redrawn in a way that guts Abigail Spanberger's 2018 and 2020 wins and her future path to Congress by replacing the current 7-4 congressional split with 5 seats for Republicans. This is proposed in spite of the fact that the 7-4 distribution was just reconfirmed in the 2020 election. Independent and swing voters in Chesterfield object to efforts to water down their votes!

The current map in the commission was drawn by the Republican Redistricting Committee. If this is a truly bipartisan committee, they need to scrap that map and start over.

This partisan map ignores the present 7-4 congressional split that was legitimately voted by Virignians and then voted for again in 2020. To ignore that, to ignore the will of the voters is wrong and undemocratic.

This proposal actively works against the mission to fairly represent Virginia's population, which is majority Democratic. Further, it splits Henrico County, where I live, into three nonsensical pieces that dilute our population's values and absolutely do not reflect our community. To appropriately represent the population, Henrico should share a district with the Charlottesville area. If you want us to believe the redistricting is nonpartisan, give us a nonpartisan map. This is insulting, ineffective, biased, and incompetent.

This map is ridiculously partisan and clearly favors Republicans over Democrats. In a state where Democrats control the legislature and the executive branch, plus went +10 for Joe Biden, why would we have majority Republican Districts. The whole thing needs to be thrown out and new maps need to be drawn that accurately reflect the make up of Virginia.

Although my address is Midlothian I live in Powhatan County. I am sick and tired of Republicans thinking they can pull the wool over our eyes at every opportunity, and that there are no consequences for their behavior. If you think we don’t know what you’re up to it you are very wrong. Go back to the drawing board indeed.

I do not think VA or any other state should rely on partisan consultants to make suggestions. This map does not reflect the reality of the recent population change in this state. I am opposed to this districting map.

This map is worst than the 2001 and 1991 redistricting maps. Since 2008 in every presidential election Virginia has voted for the Democratic candidate. Congressional District should show this. Destroying the 7th District so Our Congressman Smashburger doesn't have a district to run in is wrong. She has won in a Red district created in 2001. So you destroy her district. It appears that the Commonwealth has waisted money on this commission that has done what the General Assembly didn't want to do, redistrict the commonwealth into red districts. I am sure the State Supreme Court will find that this plan is unconstitutional and will be forced to do the job the commission was set up to do.

Is this what our brand of democracy has come to stand for? Changing the rules to meet the wants of the few regardless of the voice of the many? That is what this redrawing represents. This map ignores the present 7-4 congressional split that was legitimately voted by Virignians and then voted for again in 2020. To ignore that, to ignore the will of the voters is wrong and undemocratic. The current map in the commission was drawn by the Republican Redistricting Committee. To use that as a starting point undermines the entire purpose of the commission and thwarts what the voters clearly wanted when they voted for bipartisan redistricting. Henrico and Chesterfield are swing counties, replete with independent voters who don't just follow one party or another. In these maps, those voices will be lost, buried in a sea of partisan voters. If we want elections to matter, we have to want independent voices be heard. As is, the drawing is no more democratic than the attempts of autocrats to fill a ticket with a one party option. For the sake of democracy, please put nation, the people, over party. Do what is democratically right.

One of the reasons Henrico County is split up may be due to the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of the Federal Government. When I drew my map (https://districtr.org/plan/65616) which recognized the Henrico County/Richmond Community of Interest, I presented it to the VA Public Access Project to be included on their website. I was then told one of the reasons they would not consider my map was because it didn’t recognize the need to follow the VRA provisions. I had committed the sin of breaking up the black population of the Richmond area into Communities of Interest that didn’t consider race or age. That was correct; when drawing I didn’t look at any criteria (race, age, or politics) other than the community. I still believe that most people want the same thing from their community, no matter their race, age, or political leanings but the political mappers are encouraged to consider all these things. As a result they produce monstrosities like this.

VA voters approved the redistricting plan because they wanted to end gerrymandering and partisan redistricting. The proposed map of the state’s congressional districts is both Gerrymandered and partisan. It chops up the existing 7th CD into pieces and draws the incumbent Congresswoman out of the district with no path forward. The plan lumps the parts of the 7th district with other areas which differ culturally and geographically. The map was drawn by the Republican Redistricting Committee. The plan moves one Democrat and zero Republican incumbents out of his/her district. Moreover, it upends the current 7:4 Democrat: Republican Congressperson ratio. Each of the Congressmen and women were elected in fair and honest elections. Adoption of the commission’s map will have the effect of disenfranchising those who elected these congress persons. It clearly favors one party over the other – negating the concept of non-partisan redistricting. Please reject this map.

You think someone can and should effectively represent the interests of a person living at Parham and Patterson in Richmond as well as the interests of someone living in Danville? District 5 is ridiculous geographically.

This plan is ridiculous. It moves my 7th district to northern Virginia.

This map ignores the present 7-4 congressional split that was legitimately voted by Virginians and then voted for again in 2020. To ignore that, to ignore the will of the voters is wrong and undemocratic. I am shocked that the Commission would even consider a map that divides Henrico into three Congressional Districts. Furthermore, Goochland has more in common with Henrico than with counties on the North Carolina border. Please make sure that Goochland stays with Western Henrico county as it is now.

I dislike the fact that Henrico is split up into three separate Congressional districts. Redistricting is supposed to make every effort to keep localities and communities together, but this divides Henrico even more than it currently is.

This map does not make sense. Henrico should stay together. It is not right to have one person have to cover a widespread geographic area.

Assume real quick that you live in Western Henrico County in the proposed 1st district. You would be in the same district as someone who lives on the Chesapeake Bay and someone who lives in Louisa County. Your friend down the road lives in the proposed 5th district and is represented by a different Congressman who also represents the people of Danville who share a boarder with North-Western North Carolina. Then, your brother, who lives down the road in the other direction, is represented by the Congressman in the 4th district. This Congressman also represents the people who share a boarder with Brunswick and Eastern North Carolina. This scenario is absurd. Keep communities together and redraw the damn maps.

The map creates 6 firmly Republican districts and 5 firmly Democratic districts despite the fact that Democrats have won statewide contests for the last decade. That doesn't seem to add up.

Breaking up Henrico and shoving parts of it into areas which are so culturally different is outrageous. I encourage the commission to reconsider its Machievellian drawing of district lines.

I did not like it. It is totally unfair, disruptive & bias. Make no sense. I oppose this map.

This map is horrible! You have western Glen Allen grouped with a bunch of rural communities that do not share our views and distinct demographics. I high encourage the commission to disregard this map in favor of something that helps represent this part of Henrico more fairly.

I do not appreciate the political outlook of this map creating a 5-5 split of safe seats with a single swing district. Beyond considerations of cultural blocking based strictly on population, this district represents an overreach of interaction between National Republican Groups interacting with Virginia politics. Given the effort to establish a bipartisan commission this map should be scrapped and a return to the drawing board should be had based on a truly bipartisan process rather than allowing an organization that does not represent Virginian interests to shape our congressional map.

This map is an embarrassing disaster. Did the Commission hire the Texas Legislature to draw it for them? Fire this collection of idiots and let the VIRGINIA Legislature draw the map, at least it would be blatantly partisan in the same direction as Virginia's citizens.

I oppose the proposed Congressional map which moves my residence from the 7th CD, where I live in the Raintree subdivision to the 5th CD. This proposed district of 780,000 plus residents destroys the integrity of the political subdivision of a true community of interest – the County of Henrico with our 307,000 plus residents. As a county, we share a Board of Supervisors, School Board, libraries and similar economic interests. On the other hand, we share nothing in common with the Chesterfield communities across the James River, the rural County of Powhatan or the far-flung Southside localities, like Martinsville and South Boston. I urge you to reject this new map.

Please help me understand how splitting off 2 precincts from Ward 2 of Lynchburg keeps "Communities of Interest" intact? This is a majority minority Ward, and splitting 2 of the PRECINCTS in this Ward off into District 5, with the rest of the City of Lynchburg into District 6 makes no sense whatsoever -- unless you are purposely trying to gerrymander the map. This is unacceptable, and Lynchburg is indeed a Community of Interest and must be kept whole.

Let me first say, I am not an expert at this process. not sure why I am not more aligned with the Dumfries and Manassas area is a concern. I have more in common with this area then the Springfield. Re draw so that communities of interest and areas further South are aligned more appropriately then North. Thank you!

I just looked at the map submitted by Mike Tabony https://districtr.org/plan/65616 In my opinion, it sure beats the map presented on this website. I cannot imagine breaking up major cities into different districts, and it also makes NO sense kicking and shoving disparate counties into a district that does not serve their needs. Thank you, Mike, for taking a good look at this.

This map is terrible and unfair! We voted to prevent excessive gerrymandering! Please Do Not Split Henrico county into 3 different districts! Unnecessary! We want 1 representative addressing our needs! We want to be in district 7 with our henrico neighbors! Also overall do not try to dilute minority vote! Dumb idea to split henrico county into 3 different districts! We want town halls with our henrico neighbors!

I can't say it any better than has already been stated by others who have commented - this map isn't even a starting point. There is no reason to split Henrico as has been done here. I am currently in CD7 and would be moved to CD1 which lumps me in with communities entirely different from my own. Clear the map and try again!

Norfolk should not be split in half. The splitting of metro areas in half and thirds is insane. Districts should be drawn based on culture and way of life. It makes more sense for the Eastern Shore to share a District with the the people on the other side of the bay instead of Norfolk residents. Keep the metro sections whole.

Patrick County does not belong in the 9th district. It is a southside county. It would make more sense to put Craig County and/or southern Botetourt County into the 9th district. Those communities are closely aligned with Roanoke.

I never received the email to verify my previous comment, which was long. The point is that I live in Western Henrico and am currently in CD 7. Redrawing Western Henrico into CD 5 dilutes the diversity and interests of suburban Richmond. This region should not be gerrymandered into coastal Virginia, whose population demographics and interests are quite different. I kindly request that the Commission reconsider the current map and draw it based more on regions. People move to certain parts of the Virginia and the Country based on personal interests and this map places a moderate county in a very conservative voting block, which is not appropriate.

I am currently in CD7 and am redrawn into CD1, what does not align with geographic or political interests. It makes the district heavily rural and heavily Republican, which does not represent suburban Henrico. The commission has divided Henrico into 3 districts and, by doing so, puts heavier weight on the interests of more rural constituents. People move to certain regions for geopolitical regions and you have drawn me and most of my neighbors out of a district where we would feel represented. Do not gerrymander Henrico to dilute its diversity of thought and votes.

I am currently in CD7 and am redrawn into CD1, what does not align with geographic or political interests. What does Western Henrico have in common with coastal Virginia? It makes the district heavily rural and heavily Republican, which does not represent suburban Henrico. The commission has divided Henrico into 3 districts and, by doing so, puts heavier weight on the interests of more rural constituents. People move to certain regions for geopolitical regions and you have drawn me and most of my neighbors out of a district where we would feel represented. I urge you to strongly reconsider how Henrico is handled and do not gerrymander this county to dilute the interests of its diverse population.

As background, I am a law professor who teaches Election Law at Washington and Lee University (these comments represent my own personal view, not those of my employer). This map is so deeply flawed that it is not suitable even as a starting point. For one thing, it is not VRA compliant, as CD-3 is not black majority, and black voting strength is unduly diluted in CD-4 as well. It also unnecesarily fragments Central Virginia into at least 5 different districts. It also unnecessarily includes Albemarle County and Charlottesville City in the 6th District, when a reasonable map could be drawn to include them into the 5th. There is no community of interest between Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. Finally, the map does not comply with partisan fairness criteria, as it is essentially a bipartisan gerrymander than practically guarantees both Democrats and Republicans 5 districts each, with only 1 competitive district in the whole state. I have submitted what I believe a better plan (#389) that is VRA compliant, is more compact, avoid unnecessarily fragmenting communities of interest, and has 3 competitive districts.

I am concerned that the focus on having almost exactly 0 population deviation and on creating the most (technically) compact districts feasible will result in districts that will ignore community/regional identity and distort the political composition of the Commonwealth’s Congressional delegation. This map skews the political outcome to a guaranteed GOP advantage when the state leans slightly D. Additionally, some of the districts make 0 sense, such as Albemarle & Charlottesville with the Valley, and the slicing up of Lynchburg and the Tuckahoe area of Henrico.

This is not acceptable! I am a constituent in current CD7 who would be put in CD1. do not understand how this new map can adequately represent the interests of the residents of Henrico County. It splits this county into 3 different districts which include areas very different from Henrico with different interests. It also splits up western Henrico so that neighbors on opposite sides of the street within multiple neighborhoods will be represented by different congresspeople. This is gerrymandering.

The Northern Virginia contours are ill conceived. Fairfax County's communities of interest operate via magisterial districts. Splitting Fairfax County into three parts without respect for our magisterial districts will be completely disruptive for all of our communities. Most particularly, Reston has always been a Fairfax County majority district and must continue to be so. The Hunter Mill map proposed is ludicrously planned. This map uses artificial geography to slice Dranesville, Hunter Mill, Sully, and Springfield in half in the west. Multiple citizen-submitted maps have shown a fair configuration of Northern Virginia, which protects the communities of interest and minimizes splitting of localities and magisterial districts and the commission should look at those for how to draw Northern Virginia.

The Northern Virginia contours are ill conceived. Fairfax County's communities of interest operate via magisterial districts. Splitting Fairfax County into three parts without respect for our magisterial districts will be completely disruptive for all of our communities. Most particularly, Reston has always been a Fairfax County majority district and must continue to be so. The Hunter Mill map proposed is ludicrously planned. This map uses artificial geography to slice Dranesville, Hunter Mill, Sully, and Springfield in half in the west. Multiple citizen-submitted maps have shown a fair configuration of Northern Virginia, which protects the communities of interest and minimizes splitting of localities and magisterial districts and the commission should look at those for how to draw Northern Virginia.

I don't even feel the need to go into details when so many people have already commented so eloquently on the utter ridiculousness of this map. My personal interest is in how it breaks up Henrico County in such a way that I feel as though being truly represented will be an impossibility, but looking at the full map leaves me certain that others across the state share my opinions for their own areas. Truly, I am saddened and embarrassed that a group voted in (and trusted) to avoid partisan gerrymandering and make sensible decisions could do no better than this map. We might as well be in Texas! I had hoped Virginia was better than this, but, instead, will prepare myself to hear about our lovely state across the media for all the wrong reasons. Please... Do the job you were trusted by the voters to do and change this map while you have the chance. It doesn't have to be perfect for everyone. It just has to be fair and make sense.

Northern Spotsylvania County and Southern Stafford County are extensions of Fredericksburg as a community of interest sharing historical sites, commerce, entertainment, transportation concerns, and environmental concerns. Many of our services (hospitals, libraries, etc) are considered regional with Fredericksburg. Please keep us with Fredericksburg.

The proposed map divides Henrico County into 3 Congressional districts. It splits western Henrico communities that have shared interests and places them into two rural districts that do not have similar interests. Doing so takes away Henricoans collective ability to be represented. The Eastern area of Henrico, (which is heavily African American) is being combined with Chesterfield which dilutes the African American community's vote. These changes may help solve the goal of having districts with equal population, but it splits communities with similar interests within a County, rendering them voiceless and that is not an outcome that is acceptable!

There is no reason Henrico County should be split into 3 parts, and have parts that run to the Eastern Shore and NC line. These groups have little in common in terms of community OR geography.

This map is very disappointing. Many people in my community work in Charlottesville or Richmond. Why not draw a district that stretches from Richmond’s western suburbs to Charlottesville? My community has little in common with communities on the bay but much in common with the places we travel to for work, shopping, entertainment, health care etc. Unfortunately, our community of interest is cracked.

While the districts are more compact than on the old map, this new one seems to go even further in splitting up communities to dilute their voice for political advantage. This kind of unabashed gerrymandering goes against spirit of the amendment approved by Virginia voters in the hopes of a fair and non-partisan redistricting process.

Why would you split two precincts from Lynchburg and place them in CD 05, leaving the rest of the city in CD06? And these are majority minority precincts to boot! Unacceptable!

Too much gerrymandering in this map. Copy: https://districtr.org/plan/65616 to your browser to see a map prepared by trying to put communities of interest together and w/o looking at any of the political consequences. The map I prepared is not perfect but it is a lot better than this. Why can't these high-priced consultants prepare a map that serves the people of VA?

I support the commenters from Henrico Co. who find the division of the county into 3 districts insane. Please keep the county together in a way that urban/suburban voters with similar interests can vote for representatives of their choice and not have their votes diluted by people in very different communities in more rural areas. This is a blatant attempt by the GOP to diminish the Democratic vote. Please redraw the map, esp. in the Richmond/Henrico area.

I support the commenters from Henrico Co. Why should there be 3, such very odd-shaped, districts ?? It is a very suspicious attempt to dilute areas that have and may continue to vote Democratic. Please keep urban/suburban communities together so that they may elect representatives who support their interests. Similarly, allow rural communities to have equal numbers in each district so as not to be overwhelmed by urban/suburban districts, but keep them unified in a way that will result in representatives that support the majority of the voters in those areas. There seems to be no rationale whatsoever for little tooches carved out of districts (e.g. around Jonquill Dr.) in ways that separate neighbor from neighbor.

This is an absolutely ridiculous non-solution to the problem. Henrico should not be arbitrarily represented by 3 different districts.

This is so wrong. Splitting Henrico into 3 pieces does NOT serve the best interest of Henrico voters and tax payers. Communities should be represented by the same officials. Splitting Western Henrico so that neighbors on opposite sides of the street within multiple neighborhoods will be represented by different Congress people making getting and giving assistance with consistent services unnecessarily complicated for both constituents and representatives alike. Go back and do your job!

I don't like what this map does with the Dulles Technology Corridor between McLean and Dulles. I think Tyson's Corner has much more in common with McLean and Reston than with Vienna

The proposed map splits 1 county (Henrico) into 3 districts that cannot adequately represent our needs. It can be difficult for eastern & western Henrico to feel unified as it is: this will be much worse. As a long time Congressional District 7 constituent, I urge the committee to consider ways to consolidate all residents of Henrico County, rather than divide us. We have worked hard these past several years to feel represented in the US Congress. It feels to me that this is an attempt to unseat a very popular Congressional representative.

I strongly oppose this skillful gerrymander by the GOP consultant, taking a State that Hillary won by 5% and Biden won by 10% and drawing districts that give the GOP a 6 to 5 advantage. Sure a Democrat could win a 6th district (the 2nd) but a fair map would at least reflect the Democratic plurality in the State. Instead, the GOP consultant clearly adopted former NRCC chair Tom Davis' map, without acknowledging that's where he got it from -- isolating and splitting Democratic leaning communities of interest and constituencies. The similarities in the way the two maps draw up Roanoke and Lynchburg using the same exact maneuver is the giveaway. The result is that large swathes of the State including Charlottesville/ Albemarle, the Southern DC suburbs/exurbs in PWC/ Fredericksburg and the Richmond suburbs are deprived of meaningful representation, being paired with far right exurban and rural communities that will overshadow them and deprive them of meaningful representation. Henrico and PWC are carved up 3 ways and Albemarle/ Charlottesville is appended on to a district otherwise west of the Blue Ridge. Fair representation would require at least 6 districts with a Democratic voting plurality. That could be accomplished by connecting Charlottesville/ Albemarle to the Western Richmond suburbs or bringing the First District further north into more of the DC suburbs. In order to preserve competition, districts shouldn't be separated by double digits in party affiliation. In such a setup, outcomes would likely range from 7-4 D to 6-5 R, but it would be possible that Dems might have an outside chance of getting to 8-3 in an especially good year. But with both the first and seventh districts being designed to heavily favor GOP candidates, and Henrico and Prince William being carved up, the intent to carve up the Commonwealth to most advantage Republicans is manifest. This is NOT what Virginians who voted for non-partisan redistricting were seeking and should not be allowed to stand. Redo the maps. Make sure communities of interest are preserved and at least 6 of 11 districts have D pluralities and try again.

This makes no sense to divide Henrico County into three districts, in particular district 7. This is gerrymandering.

This map is a ruthless gerrymander which the GOP consultant clearly lifted from a Republican ex-Congressman, Tom Davis' citizen map, without acknowledging. Davis had every right to propose it but defies belief that the consultant didnt use Davis' map as the foundation for his approach. For example, both districts take the same nuanced approach to Lynchburg and Roanoke, including isolating African American majority wards in Lynchburg. Somehow in a State that elected Clinton by over 5% and Biden by 10% we are being sold a pro-GOP gerrymander with only 5 districts of 11 having a Democratic lean, which ruthlessly and cynically breaks up Democratic leaning constituencies and communities of interest . Splitting Henrico and Chesterfield into 3 rural Republican dominated districts does a disservice to everyone. Likewise, attaching Fredericksburg and majority minority areas of Prince William to an heavily GOP-slanted exurban district ensures that a significant part of Northern Virginia will be deprived of meaningful representation. And attaching Charlottesville and Albemarle to a solid R district across the Blue Ridge, when the region most naturally identifies with the Western Richmond suburbs defies common sense. There is NO WAY that any less than 6 districts with Democratic pluralities per 2020 data is representative of this electorate. If the Commission draws either District 7 or District 1 as a D lean (and keeps District 2 with a similar makeup to what it has now or what is proposed) that is defensible and you could make the remaining district an R lean and districts 5, 6 and 9 stronger R districts. That's a 6-5 D map which could go 7-4 D or 6-5 R (with an outside chance 1 more seat could flip either way). But to draw 1, 7 & 2 as ALL leaning Republican is clearly just rigging the process for the Republicans. This is NOT what Virginians voted for in authorizing a supposedly non-partisan redistricting commission. It also is clearly favoring GOP incumbents (Good and Wittman) over Democratic (Spanberger). Scrap this map and try again for a consensus map that everyone can work with. This pro GOP gerrymander isn't and MUST not be the template!

The City of Lynchburg should NOT be divided. Looks a lot like racial gerrymandering in the current Congressional map.

My central issue is that a large portion of Prince William County (also being minority-majority) is placed in a district that is extremely rural and shares very little political interests. Several citizen drawn maps have distributed the NOVA districts to bring in as many communities of interest as possible. Please do your best to keep Prince William (especially Woodbridge/Neabsco/Dale City) within NOVA congressional boundaries.

Disapprove splitting Lynchburg this way; racial gerrymandering.

I cannot believe that this commission is breaking up Henrico county into 3 congressional districts. As a person who worked very hard to get the fair maps amendment through the General Assembly, this is heartbreaking to see political divide AGAIN in map drawing. I have recently moved to the Northern Neck area from Henrico county. I can assure you that the political make up of this district is in no way representative of western Henrico county and a move to add that portion of Henrico to CD 1 will conveniently dilute thousands of votes in western Henrico. I was unlucky to be in HD 56 for years with a representative who did not represent me because I was in a sliver of his district and the majority of his constituents were rural based. My vote and voice was consistently not heard nor voted for. Please go back to the drawing board and do the right thing by the Virginians who trusted you and this amendment.

A few objections I see to the way Northern Virginia is drawn on this map: 1) Fairfax is split in three, with no respect for the magisterial districts.In Fairfax, the communities of interest are the Mag District. 2) Hunter Mill is especially poorly planned in this map, with Reston and Vienna split. Reston has always been in a Fairfax majority district and should continue to be. This map uses artificial geography to slice Dranesville, Hunter Mill, Sully, and Springfield in half in the west. 3) Multiple citizen submitted maps that have shown a fair configuration of Northern Virginia which protects the communities of interest and minimizes splitting of localities and magisterial districts, and the commission should look at those for how to draw Northern Virginia. 4) Prince William County is a majority-minority county and the second largest locality in the state, but is split in three, diluting the ability of voters of color to select the candidate of their choice 5) Prince William County is a Northern Virginia county and should all be within a Northern Virginia district. 6) Approximately 2/3 of PWC is put in a largely rural district that stretches to Charlottesville and the West Virginia border. 7) All of Potomac district, and parts of Neabsco and Woodbridge are drawn into a white majority, safe Republican seat, guaranteeing that they will have no representation for their voice in Congress.

This map is absolutely unacceptable for Henrico County - How does it possibly make sense to divide us into three different districts? How can we get fair representation for our county's interests and constituent services when we are split apart and combined with different districts. My address would be put with a district that goes all the way to the Eastern Shore while nearby neighbors would be with a completely different district. This map has Central Virginia completely chopped up. We should be able to stay with D7.

In Henrico County, this map moves several precincts from the current 7th district into the 4th district. These precincts have served as the swing vote for the candidate running in the 7th for the last 2 elections, during the first of which the seat changed from one political party to another. This move serves to reduce the political power of the people living in these precincts by packing them into the neighboring precinct in which elections are usually less competitive. The person running for office in the new 1st district would no longer have to compete for these votes.

Please go back to the drawing board. Splitting Henrico into 3 congressional districts is patently absurd. It makes coordinating between local and federal government more complicated. My area has more in common w/ th i64 corridor than the Northern Neck. There are several excellent fair maps that have been submitted for review that reflect the current political situation. Please use those rather than this Tom Davis one.

This map is unacceptable as it splits two precincts in a majority minority ward into CD05 and leaves the rest of the city in CD 06

How can you take two precincts and split them off from the city into CD 05? This divides the one majority minority city ward into two CDs. This is unacceptable!

This is an unnaceptable map with obvious gerrymandering -- please fix it. As a Henrico resident - to split Henrico County into three separate Congressional districts is unnecessary and carves up shared communities of interest. By splitting western Henrico County in this way, neighbors on opposite sides of the street within multiple neighborhoods will be represented by different Congresspeople - this will make getting/giving assistance with constituent services unnecessarily complicated for both constituents and Representatives alike CD4 also has issues that need to be address -- the percentage of Black residents sits just below 39% which may very well violate the Voting Rights Act (people much more familiar with the legal ins and outs than I am generally seem to agree that this percentage should be at least 40%). Counties and municipalites should be left as whole as possible.

This map is unacceptable. There is obvious, granted subtle, gerrymandering. My immediate neighborhood assigns residents on alternating streets to two different congressional districts. All of Henrico is split across 3 districts, diluting high density diverse communitites of color and origin. Overall, this results in a proposed map that leans more Republican than the current map, according to 538.com. That is not acceptable. Republicans have not won a state-wide race in more than 10 years. Biden carried Virginia by 10 points in an election with greater access to the polls and record turn-out. A "fair" map is a map that represents the opinion of the voters, not pseudo-equal division between two parties that in fact leans against the majority vote within our state, and where neither party can win an election without support of independents. I say no to this map, it is poorly reasoned, it guts the Capitol region and dilutes the voting power of minorities and immigrant citizens.

Henrico should not be chopped into more than 2 districts!

Splitting Henrico in 3 pieces does not serve the best interests of the Henrico community. Communities should be represented by the same officials in the first place. This map is a step in the wrong direction for the county.

The "existing political subdivisions should be preserved to the extent possible by avoiding unnecessary divisions of those subdivisions" is not being followed when you carve up Henrico county into 3 districts. It comes across as a blatant gerrymandering move to dilute out minority communities. Richmond suburbs have more common interests with the city rather than the large swath of rural communities that they are being lumped with. It’s past time for this commission to do what the voters charged it with doing- creating a fair, non-gerrymandered map.

Respectfully, this is a republican gerrymander. There are thousands of democratic voters who live in Western Henrico, Western Chesterfield, and Charlottesville that will be denied representation in this map. And that doesn't even address the fact that you split the Western Henrico community right down the road I live by. This map clearly disregards communities and representation. Please take some time and put together a good map.

This is an obvious Republican gerrymander. Splitting up Charlottesville will be detrimental to the community.

As a resident of Henrico County I am completely opposed to a map that splits my county into three separate congressional districts. The law that the redistricting commission is supposed to follow states “The integrity and priority of existing political subdivisions should be preserved to the extent possible by avoiding unnecessary divisions of those subdivisions.” Henrico County, Richmond City, and Chesterfield County ARE existing political subdivisions. This politically gerrymandered map completely defeats the purpose of the commission to construct logical maps that don’t divvy up existing counties in order to achieve a political result. Voters should pick their politicians, not the other way around. Splitting up counties to artificially jam pieces of them into politically gerrymandered districts so that moderate and swing districts are eliminated is literally THE OPPOSITE of what the redistricting commission was selected to do. This map marginalizes moderate and centrist voters by sticking people into pre-determined districts that ‘lean’ certain ways. Quit butchering central Virginia out of some ridiculous notion that politically moderate districts shouldn’t exist and that people should be ‘assigned’ to a district based on what the political outcome is predicted to be. DON’T GERRYMANDER HENRICO AND THE REST OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA. This map is RIDICULOUS.

It makes zero sense to move those of us in western henrico to more rural areas, and also it looks as though neighbors may find themselves in different districts. The needs of the suburbs are very different than rural Virginia. Please keep District 7 where it is.

The Richmond suburbs fought long and hard for congressional leadership that represents our needs against the unbalance of the rural portions of the 7th. Now this FURTHER divides the Richmond suburbs putting Chesterfield in the 5th with even more rural parts and sending the Northern part of Henrico (along with our Congresswoman) off to the 1st with more rural parts… PLEASE FIX THIS.

This map needs reworking into regions of similar interests with comparable population counts. Rural areas have different needs than urban/suburban regions. Larger geographical swaths of rural regions to meet population comparability makes much more sense than splitting urban/suburban regions into multiple districts and including those segments with rural districts. Henrico County certainly should not be divided into 3 districts! More populous urban/suburban districts may need to be divided to have equal representation of a similar number of citizens, but the divisions should still reflect similar interests and concerns. I am also concerned about the racial representation and how this map dilutes the African-American voice. Additionally, this map has my specific street surrounded on 3 sides by one district representing the same subdivision as mine while my street is represented by a different district. It is a remarkably odd carve-out.

The current CD07 rep struggles to fairly represent the interests of constituents from north of Culpeper to south of Blackstone. Under this proposal, my next rep would have no easier job representing the interests of constituents from suburban Richmond out to the eastern shore. Worse, the rest of the current CD07 constituents would be further divided between 2 other districts that stretch all the way to the NC state line. This map takes an existing problem and makes it worse. The constituents of Henrico County will be split into THREE Congressional districts, thereby diluting the pressure and influence the constituents can exert on their reps regarding their common interests. When common sense doesn't prevail (ie Henrico County should remain a single district since it is compact and easy for an elected official to represent the constituents' interests fairly - yet it is being diced into 3 districts) there is another motivation at play other than the stated goals of the commission. I reject this proposed redistricting of the Henrico County region. 

Instead of expanding north to gobble up Roanoke, the 9th should expand east to Danville, incorporating the rural counties with which it has more in common. The 6th should include everything west of Skyline drive, losing Lynchburg and Amherst to the 5th, but growing north to include Clarke and Frederick Counties as well as Winchester and also Alleghany County.

The current proposed map splits Henrico into ridiculous districts that cannot adequately represent our voices. As a current CD-7 constituent, I urge the committee to reconsider ways to consolidate Henrico County, as well as to preserve the importance of voices of Black voters and voters of color, rather than trying to hide those important voices and subvert the intent of the Voting Rights Act.

Over the course of many years, gerrymandering by political parties has been totally partisan with the intent of assuring a particular party’s controlling a district or disenfranchising minority voting. The intent of the state legislature’s formation of an independent commission was supposedly formed to prevent partisan redistricting. I implore all parties as well as the judicial system to assure an unbiased process. As an example, to break up Henrico into several districts seems to make little sense. Hopefully this process will show that nonpartisanship is possible in Virginia. There’s too much at stake for our democracy.

An appalling, embarrassing Republican gerrymander. You feature Central Virginia as a major region on your website, yet it is nowhere to be found here. Are Democratic commissioners actually doing their job by hiring a consultant who will represent their interests?

It is absolutely outrageous that Henrico County is being split into THREE Congressional districts. Under this map my county would be split into CD1, CD4, and CD5. I would be in CD1 that would stretch all the way to the eastern shore. Neighbors just a few minutes down the road (who are in the current CD7 with me) would be in CD5 in a district that stretches all the way to the VA/NC state line. There is no acceptable reason to split Henrico into three Congressional districts that covers well over 1/3 of the Commonwealth geographically and nearly 1/3 of Virginia by population.

As a constituent of VA-07 from a racially and ethnically diverse Richmond suburb, I have found it odd that my district includes the rural exurbs of Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg. But, I cannot comprehend how anyone elected to this proposed 1st District could properly represent my region in Henrico while simultaneously representing the Northern Neck of Virginia. This proposed 1st district would prevent my congressperson from adequately representing me and my family and our neighbors. Furthermore, the dissecting of urban regions throughout this proposed map will essentially nullify the minority votes across the Commonwealth. Please consolidate Henrico County as well as other urban/suburban regions.

This proposed redistricting is unnecessary and verges on gerrymandering mandating. Splitting the current 7th district into potentially 3 different districts is absurd.

For any Henrico district - to split Henrico County into three separate Congressional districts is unnecessary and carves up shared communities of interest (as far as I can tell, the only other municipality that this is being done to is Fairfax County where there is a much larger population and such splits cannot necessarily be avoided)

What a preposterous Republican gerrymander, utterly advantaging one party out of proportion to its statewide vote. If this map reflects the work of the Democratic consultant, Democrats on the commission must hire a new one immediately, because voters are being poorly served. A shameful design.

Charlottesville and her surrounding environs share few similarities demographically with any part of the Shenandoah or Blue Ridge counties, except maybe Harrisonburg. This is an college town with high rates of university education, a high percentage of younger residents, and a high number of people working in research. Charlottesville, Albemarle, and Harrisonburg have non-negligible numbers of non-Whites, whereas the rest of the region is overwhelmingly White. The rest of the proposed district is rural-focused, has far lower percentages of university education, and is on average much older. The interests of the university cities would be better served if they were paired with areas that share their demographic profile. For example, the suburbs of Chesterfield and NE Henrico which are presently divided between three seats. The current arrangement of the region leaves much to be desired, and almost guarantees rural interests will get more of a voice that the more populous suburbs.

Danville is a Majority-Minority City. It should be inside an African-American District where the voters actually can select a candidate of preference over Whites. The way to do this is with district 4, and have it reach across the southside border counties, add in the many African American voters in regions counties presently ignored by White politicians. Drop the parts of Chesapeake and Chesterfield into other districts - district 4 should be a minority access seat and not have these regions.

These are the most diverse parts of Prince William County. They should not be in the same district as rural White Exurbs, unless the goal is to create a competitive seat politically. If so, the seat fails at that.

President Biden won our beloved Commonwealth by 10%, but Republicans have the advantage in 6 out of these 11 districts. That is a clear metric we can use to assess this map, and it shows that it is wrongly drawn. Fair representation is the essence of democracy, and we must try harder to achieve it.

The way Richmond is divided up doesn't make sense to me. Is there a way to create two Richmond districts (with one including suburbs) rather than group voters from a city and rural voters together? Their needs are so different that I imagine it would be hard for the elected rep to represent both groups.

As a retired lawyer, I recommend that the commission apply strict scrutiny to the division of Ward 2 and deem it a racial gerrymander.

As a lawyer, I think the commission should give strict scrutiny to a division that appears to be racial gerrymandering.

This a huge mistake. This map takes gerrymandering to a new level! I am currently in the 7th District and this new map places the 7th up to MAryland! I really believe you are trying to break Abigail Spanberger’s voters!

This map is ridiculous. Why are we allowing Republicans to gerrymander themselves into the majority of a solidly blue state? It's undemocratic and not reflective of what the people of our Commonwealth voted for. FIX IT.

How interesting that whoever drew this map thinks that I have so much in common with Lovettsville residents despite my area being an entire order of magnitude more like Fairfax than Lynchburg. Partisan dreck designed to turn the GOP from a hopeless minority to a majority-minority

This map does not reflect the non-partisan thinking that the voters indicated their support for in supporting the commission: it is a betrayal of the electoral process and should be a reason for considerable shame.

Is this like a map “Easter Egg”? Do I get a prize for finding the .01% of York County that’s in a different district from the rest of it?

I’d love to hear the map consultants twist themselves into knots trying to justify this dumb split of Lynchburg. You knew what you were doing, we know what you’re doing.

The Eastern Shore has more in common with the northern neck than Norfolk and Virginia Beach. 2nd, 3rd and 4th need to be redrawn

Isle of Wight County is a rural agricultural and manufacturing county and it very different that Newport News, Hampton and the other cities you have it paired with. I think the entire Hampton Roads region needs to be redrawn because the 2nd, 3rd and 4th are very similar, if not the same as the current map.

Clarke County should not be included in a Loudoun/Fairfax district. It is much more similar to the Shenandoah Valley.

I think this proposed district leans too heavily on the rural counties west and northwest of the I-95 corridor. All of Stafford County, Fredericksburg and suburban portions of Spotsylvania County and Prince William County are far more similar localities in their economy, educational resources and racial and ethnic makeup than are the counties that are agricultural in nature and heavily Republican. Our area has far more in common with voters who regularly commute to Washington, DC and hold jobs that serve the federal government in Northern Virginia counties and cities. Isn't it possible to reach the desired population levels without including such small and distant counties? Thank you.

This is clearly gerrymandered! It makes absolutely no sense to lump in Charlottesville with the rest of the Shenandoah valley. Charlottesville, a thriving city with their own community and feel that is completely different than the rest of the valley, would be shut out of having their own effective representation. The way Richmond is split up is even more obtuse as to what the intent is: split up heavy Democratic areas as much as possible. This just simply ain't it chief.

I simply add my objection to those noted here--you have not only split the City of Lynchburg, you have split Ward 2, a majority-minority entity within the city. Both of these are clear and distinct communities of interest that should be kept whole.

This is clearly a Republican gerrymandering. Do not approve this map. It is benefiting the Republican party and is not a non partisan map in any way. Where are the Democratic voices in this? Horrible!

This plan is a Republican gerrymander, plain and simple. I do not understand how this commission has been repeatedly proposing plans that only benefit the Republican Party. The people of Virginia demand that the commission actually do what is was created for, to create truly non partisan maps. Democrats won Virginia in 2016 but this plan ends up creating a majority of Republican districts. I am not in favor of a gerrymander favoring the Democratic Party either.

This plan is a Republican gerrymander. I cannot understand how this commission, that is supposed to be reducing gerrymandering, has been repeatedly proposing plans that only benefit the Republican Party. Hillary Clinton won Virginia in 2016 but this plan ends up creating a majority of Trump districts. I am not in favor of a gerrymander favoring the Democratic Party. I just want truly nonpartisan maps. Do what the people of Virginia actually created this body for.

Another absurd slice of gerrymandering

Someone who lives here has ZERO common interest with someone in Midlothian

Allowing Mountain ranges to split districts makes no sense. Nelson county is grouped in a way to make it voiceless.

This map is absurd - it's an obvious Republican gerrymander. VA Beach should be with Norfolk. The entire corridor from Woodbridge to Fredericksburg should be in the same district. The Richmond suburbs shouldn't be sunk in with a whole bunch of rural areas. The commission needs to start from scratch here.

These districts break up Richmond and its suburbs specifically to dilute them with huge rural swaths. There is no justification for that.

This is a blatant gerrymander to get rid of Spanberger. It makes no sense otherwise.

District 2 is clear gerrymandering. District 2 bypasses communities near Virginia Beach and decides to stretch all the way to Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Fredericksburg is being split by not including communities just south of Fredericksburg.

Lynchburg is being split in half.

This map uses districts 9 and 6 to separate the community of Roanoke. The district stretches to the NE to include Roanoke but then fails to include Hollins, Cloverdale, Laymantown, Daleville, and Troutville. By not including any of Roanoke County and instead including Franklin County and Henry County, you can create a similar sized District 9 without separating Roanoke and surrounding communities.

I agree with and lift up David Singerman's comments. This map is a non-starter. It is a Republican gerrymander with largely uncompetitive districts. Respectfully, this is not even in the ballpark. As a resident of Albemarle County, I have lived in the heavily gerrymandered 5th District for the past decade. I urge the Commissioners to reject this map and create a fair, non-gerrymandered map.

This map splits Henrico county into three districts, and Chesterfield county is being grouped with rural counties in Southwest Virginia. This is a clear gerrymandering tactic which is used to carve out voters from the current 7th district. A similar method is used to carve out minority voters from Lynchburg in this map. Moreover, this map has consolidated districts so they are more uncompetitive than currently constructed. This will mean representatives are held less accountable for their actions. Overall, this map is a complete embarrassment to the state and does everything (packing votes, dividing communities of color, etc.) voters voted against when they approved this commission.

Hey, you forgot to put the White Oak part of Stafford into the same district as the rest of it. Obviously an just an oversight. Working with map geometries can be tricky!

So, the plan was to keep localities from being unnecessarily split up, but you have split the West End between CDs 4, 1, and 5. CD7, which used to encompass everything from Chamberlayne Rd to the west though Goochland, is moved to NOVA. Is this the most ridiculous proposal to come out of this committee? Maybe.

This is an aggressively partisan map that was clearly not designed in good faith.

Fuck you for gerrymandering and taking away power from citizens, Republicans.

Breaking Henrico into 3 pieces in a nonsensical way, attaching the North Chesterfield suburbs closest to Richmond to the rural and exurban counties to the South and West, having four separate districts within about 20 miles of Charlottesville - these are all examples of the gerrymandering that the Virginia Redistricting Commission was supposed to end. We understand that there will be times, in urban areas, where cities or counties need to be divided, but they should be divided in no more than necessary and, when divided, along lines reflecting communities of interest. For example, as a Bon Air resident, I would have no objection to being included in a district that included all of Richmond south of the James River, and the portion of Richmond and Henrico's west ends just across the James River because those areas share communities of interest in terms of employment, health care, entertainment, dining, etc. We share common interests in terms of public transportation, as evidenced by existing and planned bus lines into the suburban areas of Henrico and Chesterfield. Those suburbs, however, do not share the same interests, by and large, with the rural communities significantly South or North of the I-64 corridor. Please do better.

for years, the fifth's Dem leaning north has been swamped by the GOP dominated southern porthion. Despite cinsistently voting democratic, Albemarle county has remained without effective reporesentation in congress. With this plan, Albemarle will be folded into the conservative 6th, rendering the county once again irrelevant .Really? Is this the best you can do?

I am confused as to so many of these districts are gerrymandered and uncompetitive as presented here -- the goal of the commission does not seem to be consistent with these maps -- for example, why is Charlottesville combined with the rest of the Shenandoah Valley? Why is Richmond divided the way it is presented here? This does not serve communities of interest, to say the least.

To ignore Charlottesville's importance as a community of interest to it's surrounding counties to the East is ridiculous. It is a hub for all surrounding counties, but especially to the East. See: https://statchatva.org/2017/05/08/visualizing-commuter-flows-in-the-charlottesville-area/ The people of Fluvanna work there, get their education there, get their healthcare there, shop there. The same applies to Louisa County.

This map takes communities in the rapidly diversifying and dense Richmond suburbs and adjoins them to communities over 100 miles away in some cases. The interests of residents in rural areas and fast growing metros that are hours apart from one another would not be met under this proposal.

Norfolk should not be split in half. The splitting of metro areas, which are mostly Dem, in order to help more Republicans get elected is insane. Districts should be drawn based on culture and way of life. It makes more sense for the Eastern Shore to share a District with the the people on the other side of the bay instead of Norfolk residents. Keep the metro sections whole.

Charlottesville/Albemarle needs to stay with its “Health District”. Why split Charlottesville from its workforce which lives in Fluvanna/Louisa/Orange Nelson and Greene? Have the Shenandoah Valley be one district and the Blue Ridge Health District remain intact. Moving Charlottesville/ALB from one Republican gerrymandered district (Old 5) to the new 6 keeps a huge employment block without representation. Our past three congressmen failed to even speak to us!

Absolutely not. Three Congressional representatives for the Richmond and Charlottesville metro areas EACH is utterly absurd. This is a blatant attempt by the GOP to "pinwheel" the map and dilute the vote for a partisan advantage. AGAIN.

The 6th district as drawn has many of the same problems of the present 5th district. The area around Charlottesville is a community of interest. The counties of Albemarle, Greene, Augusta, Nelson, Buckingham, Fluvanna, and Louisa are all centered around the activities of Charlottesville and it should be easy to get them into one district. Yes, I know that splits “The Valley” but the northern part of the valley is quite different from the areas south of Augusta County which identifies more with Roanoke and the mountains to the west and southwest. The Lynchburg district should include Amherst, eastern Bedford, Appomattox, Campbell. Lynchburg should definitely not be split up as drawn. I also agree with the commenters who state that the rural Eastern Shore should be included with rural District 1 not the urban areas to the south. As it presently is drawn the Eastern Shore would have virtually no representation. Finally, present a district map with no bias. Put communities of interest together as thoroughly as possible w/o racial or political consideration. We are Americans first and foremost. Once one group is favored the others will never agree so favor none of them.

What's so ugly and so insulting about this map is that of the eleven districts, ten are gerrymandered to be totally uncompetitive. Five are secured for each party, all by double digits, some by obscene margins (+38 and +50). That means that more than 90% of Virginia's voters will be "represented" by a member of congress who's so insulated from the voters that they can can ignore the needs and requests of their constituents. This commission's job is to make our elected officials represent Virginians better, not worse. Those of us in the 5th district have to live with gerrymandering's consequences right now. Don't let it happen to the whole state.

The 2nd should extend west, not north. Have it take in at least the areas of the Suffolk and Chesapeake currently in the 4th, and it can take in Isle of Wight County too, if need be. The 4th should take in Brunswick County and more of the Richmond suburbs to offset this population loss from losing most of Suffolk and Chesapeake

Why is Chesapeake in the 4th? It should be in the 2nd. Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have much in common. Also, this could help with the needless splitting of Norfolk, all of which should go in the 3rd.

Why is James City County being split? It's nowhere near big enough to justify such a move.

I feel like there should be a district that includes a chunk of the Richmond suburbs, similar to the current 7th. There are divided up more than necessary on this map.

I've said it before, but I'll repeat it: Albemarle County, and probably Amherst County and Nelson County at least, need to go to the 5th. To offset this, the 6th can extend farther northward. This would also insure that the Shenandoah Valley isn't split.

Clarke County would be better fit with other communities of the Shenendoah Valley and less with eastern Loudoun/western Fairfax. Committee should at a minimum consider moving it into the 7th district.

This proposal cuts the 2nd Ward for Lynchburg in half, a 55%+ African-American community. How such a Congressional split exists, after an outcry for keeping Lynchburg whole for weeks and (prior to the deadline for the Commission) all drafts for state legislative maps had the city together, in addition to the great lengths the body has taken to ensure minority communities are not improperly represented, is all supremely peculiar. Surely this is noted by the Commission, seen as wrong, and fixed on Monday.

Please try again. Create a compact Richmond-area district, comprised of: all of Hanover, western Henrico, almost all of Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, eastern Powhatan, eastern Goochland, and the remainder of Richmond. Give Black residents of Southern Virginia the representation that they have never had. Extend the 4th to Martinsville, give the remainder of Suffolk to the 3rd, give Chesapeake to the 2nd.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 are all highly suspect with the dividing of large metropolitan areas.

Lynchburg should not be split in half, especially in a way that splits up and dilutes black voters like this.

Henrico County should not be split into more than 2 districts.

This is a clear attempt at giving the Republican party an advantage in a state that is clearly no longer leaned in their favor. This would be a joke if it weren't so serious. This is Gerrymandering, plain and simple.

The independent city of Lynchburg should not be split, but this proposal does that, while also splitting up the black community in the city into two vastly different districts.

This map clearly favors Republicans. Richmond has been crammed into a mostly South-Eastern district to make sure CD 1 and CD 5 remain safe Republican. Instead of putting Charlottesville and Albemarle into CD 7, it has been grouped with areas that have no common interests to create 2 safe Republican districts. This map is an embarrasment.

No county, save Fairfax given the population distribution in the region alongside the independent cities [especially Alexandria and Arlington], should be split into more than two districts. In other words, there is no reason Prince William should be split into 3 districts.

This is a ridiculously unbalanced and undemocratic map, giving Republicans an advantage in 6 of 11 districts despite the fact that Biden won the state by 10 points.

This map is a complete joke. Looking at CD-6 in particular, there is no way you can argue that Charlottesville is in any way related to the areas its been grouped with. You're turning a lean D or toss-up district into a Solid R one. More generally, this map would probably end up sending half Democrats and half GOP reps, in a state Biden won by 10 points. That is not a fair map, its a Republican-favored gerrymander masquerading as something "bi-partisan". Go back to the drawing board and stop considering any maps drawn by either the Dem or GOP appointed consultants as they have proven to be utterly ridiculous, un-democratic and unfair.

This is a ridiculously unbalanced and undemocratic map, which would give Republicans an advantage in 6 out of 11 districts in a state that Biden won by ten points. undemocratic.

I disagree with the decision to include norfolk and VA Beach with the entire eastern shore. Once you get away from norfolk/ va beach it gets much more rural. I don't think a rep from the highlighted area would be able to properly represent all of their constituents. People deserve a rep who knows the area as a whole and the needs of its people and with such different populations with such different priorities they would not be able to effectively advocate for them.

The 2nd district is nonsensical. The Eastern Shore should not be combined with urban areas south.

It would make much more sense for this part of Chesapeake to be included in the second district instead of the fourth. If the second district included the portion of Chesapeake east of the bypass (168), the second district wouldn't need to jut all the way into Williamsburg, the fourth district would be able to include more African American population from the western part of the fourth district, and it would keep cultures together (parts of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, and southside would be able to stick together). Please put the portion of Chesapeake east of 168 in the second district!

I hate seeing the southern part of Chesapeake involved in the fourth district that is so different from our area. A Chesapeake to Richmond district makes no sense. This area of Chesapeake should be included in the 2nd District as it would make much more sense culturally. Chesapeake and Virginia Beach work together much more than Chesapeake and Richmond ever has. PLEASE take Chesapeake out of the fourth district!

The Eastern Shore is a rural area that has more commonality with the voters in the 1st CD. Send the Shore to the 1st and add more Norfolk 3rd CD voters in the 2nd CD. Then you can make up those Norfolk voters by adding more of the Peninsula (Williamsburg, JCC and Poquoson) in the 3rd

I think Clarke should be with the district including Winchester. It has more in common with Winchester area than Loudoun.

Why are you so set on having the 2nd run for the Eastern Shore to James City county. Keep the district east of the HRBT and south of the MMMBT!

Why do people keep insisting on this ungodly set up for district 2? It makes no sense.

The Richmond suburbs go from primarily being in the 7th district to the 5th and 1st. I don't think that makes sense and it is not fair to drastically change the 7th that much without any good reason.

I realize I'm a broken record and the Commission is probably sick of me saying this, but I will say it again. There is no reason to put Charlottesville/Albermarle in a district over the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Sixth should go "down the valley" along I-81 to Winchester. If you don't do that, there is no way the 7th will be competitive and you won't be able to pass maps.

While some commissioners view following the natural barriers of the state as gerrymandering, it is much less of a gerrymander than trying to keep randomly drawn county and municipal units "compact." There is a distinct difference between the needs of the Shenandoah Valley // I-81 corridor and the needs of the areas east like Charlottesville, Amherst, and Lynchburg. Also, speaking to the points of travel time, it is shorter to drive from Hollins to Winchester than Monterey to Rocky Mount, two towns that the current CD-6 group together.

The 4th district's black population should be higher than 40%, rather than 38% it has now. It can add Brunswick and shake off precincts that are majority white to do so.

The partisan lean of this map in unfair because of the configuration of the 5th district and 1st district by splitting the Richmond area and their voting blocks. I think these districts need to be heavily reworked because it splits Henrico three ways and splits communities of interest.

SW Richmond suburbs are split off from the rest of the surrounding Richmond area. Seems like an obvious way to dilute the opinions of this region. Chesterfield does not have anything in common with areas on the North Carolina border.

The way the sixth district is drawn divides a lot of communities of interest for no coherent reason. Carving up Lynchburg is absolutely unnecessary, and instead of keeping the Lynchburg MSA together, this map goes off and grabs Charlottesville and Albemarle, which are neither in the media market with Lynchburg nor in the Shenandoah Valley. If you take Lynchburg and all the counties around it + Franklin + Shenandoah Valley up to Warren, you have a cohesive mountain/highlands district. It keeps the Valley together, it keeps Lynchburg together and minimizes municipal splits. And it's a least change map since that's similar to the current configuration of VA-6, except you'd cede Roanoke to the 9th due to population decline in SW Virginia, and would then have to absorb all of Lynchburg MSA to get to the population target.