However, if these boroughs were left largely intact, it would have cascading effects on adjacent boroughs.
Both mappers would add several Chesapeake wards from District 4 to bring District 3 to the required population. The Republican cartographer would add a few districts of Henrico to restore the required population to the 4th district. The Democratic cartographer would add additional Chesterfield County residents to the 4th district.
The current 5th District stretches south from Fauquier County through Charlottesville and Albemarle Counties to Danville and the North Carolina Line.
The new 5th District proposed by the GOP would not extend to the outskirts of Northern Virginia. In addition to West Chesterfield and part of Henrico, it would include Goochland, Amelia, and Fluvanna counties in the Greater Richmond area, as well as a variety of Southside locations.
The proposed 6th ward of the GOP, currently represented by Republican Ben Cline, would add Charlottesville and Albemarle, both of which are currently in the 5th ward.
Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, questioned the GOP mapmaker’s cartography.
“If you take a bit of Henrico County and put it all in Southside, it feels like a Gerrymander,” because there are “cracking” suburbs that have turned blue, he said.