Democratic lawmakers who control Virginia’s legislature are moving quickly to approve a new congressional map that could create as many as four additional Democratic-leaning U.S. House districts before this year’s midterm elections.

The proposal, which Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is expected to sign early next week, comes as voters prepare to decide this spring whether to shift redistricting authority from the current bipartisan commission back to the legislature through the 2030 election cycle.

Republicans have blasted the effort as an “unconstitutional power grab,” while Democrats argue the move is necessary to counter what they describe as aggressive partisan gerrymandering by the GOP in other states.

Virginia has become the newest front in a broader nationwide struggle over congressional maps, with Florida poised to follow. The clash reflects a larger political contest between President Donald Trump and Republican allies on one side and Democrats on the other, as both parties seek to shape districts ahead of November’s elections.

With Republicans defending a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House, Democrats need to gain just three seats to reclaim control. As a result, redistricting battles in Virginia and elsewhere could determine which party holds the chamber next year.

“It’s happening all over the country,” the narrator in a new ad by Virginians for Fair Elections says. “Politicians redrawing maps to rig the midterm elections. And Virginia can’t sit back and do nothing.”

The Democratic-aligned advocacy organization told Fox News Digital it is committing an initial seven-figure sum to air the advertisement statewide.

If enacted in time for the midterms, the proposed Virginia map could give Democrats a chance to flip four Republican-held districts, transforming the state’s current 6-5 GOP advantage in its House delegation into a potential 10-1 Democratic edge.

Opposition has emerged from Virginians for Fair Maps, a Republican-backed group challenging the plan. The organization argues that “Virginians came together to pass bipartisan redistricting reform — a process that took the power to draw maps out of politicians’ hands. Now, politicians in Richmond want to undo that progress.”

The Republican National Committee has also criticized the proposal, labeling it a “power grab.”

Democrats suffered a setback when a local court halted their attempt to amend Virginia’s Constitution to enable the redraw. A circuit court judge in Tazewell County ruled that lawmakers failed to follow proper procedures.

The decision has been appealed, and both sides are awaiting word on whether the Virginia Supreme Court will intervene.

Time is a critical factor. Early voting for the April 21 referendum is scheduled to begin March 6.

Trump had floated the idea last spring of pursuing mid-decade redistricting, a tactic that is uncommon but not unprecedented. His aim was to avoid a repeat of 2018, when Democrats regained the House majority during his first term.

The strategy centered on redrawing maps in Republican-controlled states to strengthen the GOP’s slim House majority ahead of midterms, which historically tend to favor the party out of power.

Texas was the first focus of that effort.

When questioned by reporters last summer about adding Republican-friendly seats nationwide, Trump said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott subsequently called a special session of the GOP-led legislature to approve a revised map.

Democratic lawmakers in Texas responded by breaking quorum and leaving the state for two weeks in an attempt to delay the vote, energizing Democrats across the country.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom emerged as a leading opponent of Trump’s redistricting push.

In November, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, a ballot measure that temporarily sidelined the state’s independent redistricting commission and restored map-drawing authority to the Democratic-controlled legislature.

That change is expected to yield five additional Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, a move designed to counter Texas’ redistricting effort.

The conflict has expanded beyond Texas and California.

Republican-led legislatures in Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina have also drawn new congressional maps as part of the broader effort.

In Utah, a district judge late last year rejected a map crafted by the Republican-controlled legislature and instead approved an alternative that would create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

Utah Republicans have appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court in hopes of blocking the court-ordered map for this year’s elections.

In Indiana, Republican state senators in December rejected a redistricting measure that had passed the House, defying Trump and drawing national attention.

Florida is now expected to become the next battleground.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are pursuing a special session in April aimed at adding three to five Republican-leaning districts.

That effort has already sparked litigation. A group aligned with Florida Democrats filed a lawsuit arguing that DeSantis and Secretary of State Cordy Byrd lack the legal authority to alter election procedures after Byrd moved congressional qualifying dates from April to June.

Democrats in Maryland are also pressing for redistricting that could add one more Democratic-leaning seat. The proposal, backed by Gov. Wes Moore and approved by House Democrats, faces resistance from Senate President Bill Ferguson, also a Democrat.

Meanwhile, Republicans in South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Hampshire, along with Democrats in Illinois and Washington state, are considering their own redistricting efforts.

Overshadowing these state-level battles is the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a significant case that could reshape interpretations of a key section of the Voting Rights Act.

If the Court sides with its conservative justices, the decision could trigger widespread redrawing of majority-minority districts nationwide, a development that analysts say would likely benefit Republicans.

For now, however, the timing and scope of the Court’s ruling remain uncertain, leaving both parties watching closely as the redistricting fight intensifies across the country.