GOP landslide on Virginia’s referendum vote in the Southwest not enough to stop approval

Virginia House Republican Leader Terry Kilgore said redistrict referendum votes were disappointing but not unexpected, but in a statement, he said the new district maps that would give Democrats up to four new congressional seats are on hold until the courts evaluate the issue.

In far Southwest Virginia, it was landslide support for the GOP with an average 83 percent voting ‘no’ across 11 localities. Only 3 Southwest localities west of Richmond voted yes for plan: Roanoke, Danville and Martinsville.

Washington County had the largest turnout in our region with more than 20,000 ballots cast; that’s 51 percent of the county’s registered voters.

– Bristol 3,126 total referendum voters / 11,425 registered voters as of November 1.
– Buchanan 5,251 / 13,945
– Dickenson 4,265 / 9,565
– Lee 6,296 / 15,217
– Norton 887 / 2,536
– Russell 9,046 / 18,875
– Scott 7,553 / 15,764
– Smyth 9,715 / 20,148
– Tazewell 12,739 / 25,847
– Washington 20,346 / 39,427
– Wise 10,052 / 24,656

(Data: Virginia Department of Elections, Virginia Public Access Project)