A high-stakes Virginia redistricting fight took an embarrassing turn Saturday after former Attorney General Jason Miyares spotlighted basic spelling errors in a legal filing submitted by Democratic leaders seeking to delay a state Supreme Court ruling.
The motion, filed Friday by House Speaker Don Scott, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, asked the Virginia Supreme Court to delay issuing its mandate while Democrats pursue an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But the substance of the filing was quickly overshadowed by its mistakes. Screenshots shared by Miyares showed the state’s name misspelled as “Virgnia” and the word “Senator” rendered as “Sentator.”
“First, if you are going to appeal to SCOTUS maybe don’t misspell Virginia????” Miyares wrote on Twitter. He later dismissed the filing as a “Hail Mary” with “zero chance to succeed.”
The filing, titled “Joint Motion to Delay Issuing Mandate,” followed the Virginia Supreme Court’s May 8 decision striking down a voter-approved redistricting amendment. The amendment, narrowly approved in an April 21 special election, would have allowed lawmakers to redraw congressional districts in the middle of the decade.
First, if you are going to appeal to SCOTUS maybe don’t misspell Virginia???? pic.twitter.com/rmj1pFMfd6
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) May 9, 2026
Supporters argued the measure was a lawful attempt to revise the state’s political map. Critics called it a Democratic gerrymander designed to transform Virginia’s congressional delegation, potentially giving Democrats a 10-1 advantage.
In a 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court invalidated the referendum, finding that Democratic-led legislators failed to follow the procedural requirements of the Virginia Constitution when placing the amendment before voters. The decision left the existing 6-5 Democratic-leaning congressional map in place but blocked the more aggressive redraw.
Democrats denounced the ruling and signaled that they would seek relief from the nation’s highest court. Miyares argued that such an appeal faces steep legal obstacles because the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision rested on state constitutional grounds. Under the adequate and independent state grounds doctrine, the U.S. Supreme Court generally does not review state court decisions that depend solely on state law.
The misspellings, however, gave Republicans a simpler line of attack. Critics online mocked the document’s professionalism, with some joking about “Learing Center” graduates and others questioning how such errors made it into a filing connected to a potential Supreme Court appeal.
Miyares also pointed to the cost of the failed redistricting push, citing roughly $70 million in political spending and $10 million in taxpayer funds connected to the effort.
Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat, is known less for his competence and more for his alleged support for killing the family of his Republican opposition.
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Spelling is racist.