The Speaker of the House of Delegates, Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), has chosen 16 citizens, from over 1,200 applicants, to be on Virginia’s redistricting commission. According to VPAP.org, all 16 identified themselves as Democrats.
House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) has also submitted his list and 13 of his 16 nominees are Republicans.
The list of the those chosen will be released soon.
Of those applying to be on the commission, 48% identified as Democrat, 18% as Republican, 31% had no party affiliation and 4% belonged to some other party.
By January 15th a panel of retired judges will chose 8 people from the two lists to serve on the redistricting commission. The commission will be comprised of 4 Republican legislators, 4 citizens nominated by Republican legislators, 4 Democrat legislators, and 4 citizens nominated by Democrat legislators. They will hold their first meeting by February 1st and their work will begin when Virginia receives the 2020 census.
