In this Email:

• A Message From the VRTA President
• VRTA Member Benefits Information
• Today's Interest Rates
• Holiday Road Trips?
• Is Midterm Redistricting a Wise Thing to Do?
• VRTA Lobby Day
• Important VRTA Dates to Remember

Karen Whetzel

VRTA President

Phone: 540-740-8589

Email: kswhetzel@gmail.com

Scan the QR code on your smartphone or click it to look at Karen Whetzel's VRTA President's page!

If you ever wonder what it means to have VRTA benefits? Visit the website – vrtabenefits.org to see what benefits are available to you.

Gena Young

540-722-2529, ext. 120

genay@creeksideadvisors.net

Haylee Combs

540-722-2529, ext. 121

hayleec@creeksideadvisors.net

Phone (540) 722-2529

Toll-Free (800) 467 5425

Email: savenow@creeksideadvisors.net

IS MIDTERM REDISTRICTING A WISE THING TO DO?  

Last month the Legislative Spotlight dealt with why Virginia is considering midterm  redistricting and what the process would be. With President Trump’s encouragement,  Texas passed an amendment to redraw its congressional districts to gain more Republican  seats in the House of Representatives. It has withstood a court case charging racial  gerrymandering. Virginia is one of the states that has begun the amendment process to  allow gerrymandering in 2026 to gain more Democratic seats. The legislature is certain  to take the second step and pass this resolution as soon as possible after the GA session  begins on January 14. A referendum will be scheduled this spring. Therefore, we as the  electorate must decide whether approval of this midterm gerrymandering is a wise thing  to do. What questions should we consider? 

Is gerrymandering ever a good method of drawing legislative districts? Several years ago, when the voters overwhelmingly voted to have district maps drawn by  a bipartisan commission, it was because it was more fair than allowing the majority  political party to draw the lines. What happened to that principle? Is it suddenly  acceptable to be unfair and revert to gerrymandering when it would likely give the  Democrats more seats? The Democrats say they are only doing this because the  Republicans in Texas did it first. (Does this remind any of you teachers of supervising  the playground?) The language of the resolution says it will be enforced for only one  year, but if there is a precedent set, would Democrats or Republicans hesitate to do it  again?

Would changing the rules contribute to better working relationships between legislators  of different parties? Or even within a party? It may add to the already considerable  polarization and unwillingness to cooperate with the other party. Although this is a  Democratic maneuver, not all Democrats think it’s the right thing to do. Brian Cannon,  who led a seven-year effort to establish a bipartisan commission, said, “I think it is  morally wrong.” Governor-elect Spanberger has not shown opposition to this plan by her  party; however, she has not enthusiastically endorsed it either. Before the election, she  said she had “no plans to redraw Virginia’s maps.” A few months later, “she backed  fellow Democrats’ efforts to keep ‘alive the option of taking action into the future.’” She  recently noted that without redistricting she won two districts represented by  Republicans.  

How might this affect voters? It would likely be confusing. Redistricting confuses  voters when it’s done after the census every 10 years. It also might affect voter turnout.  A special election never has a large turnout, and this special election in the spring would  add to the confusion. Some may conclude that it’s just not important and stay home. 

Would the objective of increasing Democratic congressional seats be achieved by  midterm redistricting? Maybe. Several complicated ifs come into play concerning early  voting, whoever is elected to fill Lt. Gov. elect-Hashmi’s seat, and the election calendar.  Dwayne Yancey, the VRTA spring luncheon speaker, explained these intricacies in a  Cardinal News article October 31. In the Dec. 8 Cardinal News, he gave several possible redrawn maps that are being discussed. Any court cases that might result related to the  ifs or the proposed maps could further delay implementation. Virginia has 11  congressional seats and Democrats already have six. With the wave of Democratic  support seen in the recent election, some analysists believe that without redistricting,  Virginia could pick up two more. With redistricting, they may pick up a 10th seat.  

These are just some of the things that must be considered if a redistricting referendum is  sent to voters in the spring.  

Note: Contact Bea Morris if you want to know more about Dwayne Yancey’s  explanations in Cardinal News.  

Bea Morris

VRTA Legislative Co-Chairperson

Email: beam1340@gmail.com

VRTA LOBBY DAY

JANUARY 29, 2026

With a new year only a few weeks away, we are looking forward to visiting the Capital for Lobby Day! We would like to have a lot of members there to show we are an engaged and involved group. We have new leadership for our state and they are supportive of our issues and priorities. So visiting with them to discuss these issues is very important! Now is the time to organize your members and make plans to be in Richmond on January 29th!

Here is some additional information to help you plan your visit.

1. Please email Tina Whitaker (lucy7232@aol.com) by January 12th if you plan to attend
2. We will meet at 9:00 AM that day. Our new lobbyist, Chris Bailey, will arrange for us to have a room in the General Assembly Building.
3. Try to schedule any meetings before 11:30 AM
4. Parking- visit this website- virginiageneralassembly.gov

• Then click on Visiting the Capital. There will be links to maps and parking.
• That site also has hotels that are near the Capital if you want to stay overnight.

After January 12th, I will email participants more details.

HOPE TO SEE YOU IN JANUARY!

Tina Whitaker

VRTA Legislative Co-Chairperson

Email: lucy7232@aol.com

Important VRTA Dates to Remember

Thursday, January 29, 2026: Lobby Day at the General Assembly

Monday, March 30, 2026: Spring 2026 VRTA newsletter deadline (which will be electronic only, posted on vrta.us in color!)

Tuesday, April 28 & Wednesday, April 29, 2026: VRTA Spring Delegate Assembly at the Doubletree by Hilton in Midlothian, Virginia.

Tuesday, June 30, 2026: Deadline for submitting VRTA Community Service Report, With Our Youth Award Application, 2026-27 district and unit officer information for the Directory, and District/Unit Combined Annual Report.