Image: Voters cast their ballots at a polling station on Nov. 4, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A Virginia judge on Thursday sided with national and local Republicans who challenged the commonwealth’s effort to have a referendum on mid-decade redistricting, temporarily pausing the effort.

The ruling, which temporarily stops election officials from carrying out a redistricting referendum in April, came after a hearing Thursday in a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and several GOP House members from the commonwealth.

It represents the second time in weeks that Judge Jack Hurley Jr. of the state Circuit Court of Tazewell County in southwestern Virginia has ruled against the redistricting effort.

The order said that Virginia officials would not be allowed to take steps toward the scheduled referendum until either March 18 or other court action. Hurley wrote in the order that it was highly likely the referendum process violated commonwealth law and the state constitution.

National Republicans trumpeted the ruling.

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