Critics accused Spanberger of ‘luring and switching’ in holding back the referendum

Opponents of the Virginia Democrats’ poll blocking the re-poll accuse Gov. Abigail Spanberger for “eat and change,” pointing to her campaign promise of “no plans” to redraw the district’s congressional map before Tuesday’s vote.

Former Virginia Govs. George Allen and Glenn Youngkin, along with a number of senior conservatives, opposed the effort, which would have redrawn the 6-5 Democratic map into a 10-1 map created by Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and supported by Spanberger.

“Look for a good bait and switch,” Del said. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, shared a screenshot from October showing Spanberger’s apparent promise not to support what he’s now behind.

“Vote No,” said Webert, whose district forms the border between Washington, DC, suburbs of Washington, DC, poised to amass political power if the referendum passes and hundreds of miles of rural land to the south and west ready to lose their voice.

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The latter is of particular concern to US Rep. Ben Cline, a Botetourt Republican whose district stretches from Roanoke to the northern West Virginia line in Berryville along the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley, Cline said will lose their unique voice in Washington.

Cline told Fox News Digital how Spanberger served on the House Agriculture Committee and “loved to talk about his connection to Virginia agriculture.”

“My district right now is the most agriculture-based district in Virginia and he has cut it into five different districts and divided it up for Northern Virginia Democrats to use to make their numbers work,” he said, adding that the poll upsets Virginia farmers in particular.

In the words “Ruthless”, Cline elaborated on that point, saying that the people of his district will now lose their voice because they will be divided into five “spaghetti strands” from Arlington and Fairfax.

“But we hope that we will be able to stop the governor in his tracks,” he said.

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“They pulled us even to run an ad, yes, because he is not popular,” he said.

Spanberger was featured in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign urging voters to support the redistricting referendum, but Virginia Scope reported that the ad was recently pulled from circulation.

“[The situation] he slipped south because of him and that’s what happens when you play bait-and-switch with voters,” Cline said.

However, the Vote YES campaign rejected Cline’s explanation in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“This is a lie,” the campaign said. “We’re running a strong statewide campaign with many voices – including Governor Spanberger. This election is about stopping Trump’s power grab and leveling the playing field – and that’s exactly what a YES vote did.”

In his remarks on “Ruthless,” Cline also brought up the fact that many Democrats in the Fairfax area are already launching bids for the yet-to-be-confirmed redrawn “lobster”-shaped seat that is the most prominent part of his district.

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“I didn’t think Dan Helmer could get the Shenandoah Valley on the map, but he’s still going to campaign and ask for votes.” [here],” he said of the far-left delegate from Fairfax who helped lead the redistricting effort itself.

Helmer, an Army veteran, also drafted a sweeping gun control bill for the commonwealth hailed as “taking away the gun.”

“You have a leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, on the Democratic side, who is making maps for their own benefit… They are passing laws to help them get elected to Congress, not to pass laws to help Virginians move forward” Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke, told the Virginia Mercury about Helmer’s position.

When asked about Cline and others criticizing his decision to run in a redistricting district, Helmer told Fox News Digital that as campaign chairman for Virginia House Democrats, he has been successful in rural areas.

“I campaigned in every corner of this state – from Rockingham to Louisa, Arlington to Powhatan. Because of those efforts, 14 MAGA Republicans. [in the state legislature] now employees are also scrolling LinkedIn instead of hurting Virginia families — and in November, we’ll add Ben Cline to that list,” Helmer said.

Several other Democrats including former first lady Dorothy McAuliffe and JP Cooney – a former aide to Jack Smith – also ran there.

Turning to the new maps, only Representative Morgan Griffith’s district remains Republican.

House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, represents much of that district in Richmond and has joined efforts to block Youngkin and former Attorney General Jason Miyares in his southwest district.

Youngkin’s 2021 victory was partly attributed to Republicans running up points in low-populated districts like Wise, Scott, Dickenson and Lee, and a similar strategy emerged in the closing weeks of early voting.

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In Dickenson County, home of the late music legend Ralph Stanley, Kilgore recently joined local leaders to call for a get-out-the-vote campaign.

“We want everyone to vote ‘No’,” he said, as Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Bristol, reported that 500 people had already voted that morning.

“We can win this,” Kilgore said. “We don’t want Fairfax County to control our congressional districts and we want to protect rural Virginia.”

On the other side of the commonwealth, where another rural district will be cut and pasted in Fairfax, Rep. Rob Wittman of Northern Neck echoed the same concerns as Cline.

“Governor Spanberger has clearly said: ‘I have no plans to redraw Virginia’. But now, politicians in Richmond are pushing for a referendum to do just that—redraw congressional maps in the middle of the decade,” Wittman said.

“A 10-1 map will wipe out millions of voices — that’s not representation; that’s gang abuse,” he said.

Tazewell County District Court Judge Jack Hurley — who issued an injunction against the referendum until the state Supreme Court stepped in — also led criticism of the term “restore fairness” used in the ballot as an official description of what would be done with a yes vote.

Hurley said the language is unconstitutionally misleading and “[it] may lead the voter to believe that he is doing something wrong by voting for the proposed amendment.”

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Although the high court has indicated that the election can go ahead, appeals by the plaintiffs and defendants on the merits of the case are due on Thursday – when the bench will decide whether to postpone any passing of the referendum.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Spanberger, Helmer and Right Choice Virginians for comment.