Virginia Senate Democrats Submit Additional Recommendation for Redistricting Special Master

November 17, 2021

Today, the Senate Democratic Caucus Majority Leader Richard Saslaw nominated Professor R. Michael Alvarez to serve as a special master to assist the Supreme Court of Virginia in drawing fair districts in a transparent process for the Senate, House of Delegates, and U.S. House of Representatives. A copy of the nomination letter is available here.

“Every nominee submitted by Senate Democrats has been a highly-qualified, well-respected academic professional who is dedicated to representational fairness in government. We look forward to the Court’s final recommendation as it chooses from our nominees, and hope for redistricting that considers Virginians’ mandate when they voted for a nonpartisan, fair, and principled process,” said Majority Leader Dick Saslaw.

“Partisanship cannot have any place in redistricting, and that is the spirit in which we nominate Professor Alvarez. While our colleagues across the aisle have disregarded the charge set forth for a map-drawing system removed from politics, we are proud to bring in our nation’s top minds in demographics, political science, and law to maintain fairness and public input as Virginia’s voters intended,” said Caucus Chair Mamie Locke.

“Now that the Virginia Redistricting Commission has failed to submit maps, this transitions to a politics-free judicial process. The Senate Democratic Caucus has followed Virginia law while the Senate and House Republicans continue attempting to turn our nonpartisan courts into facilitators of a partisan negotiation. That not only violates the Virginia judicial canons but also state law, and is not what Virginians voted for in the 2020 election,” said Vice Caucus Chair Scott Surovell.