Drawn

The Department of Justice has approved Virginia's new state legislative districts, the attorney general reported Friday, and now the new districts must shoulder the cost.

The approval means that all redrawn Virginia Senate and House of Delegates districts can be used in the upcoming primaries and November general elections. And the cost of redistricting could reach a total of $5.6 million for local governments, according to NBC29.

Why such a heavy cost? The maps create a total of 224 split precincts between the House and Senate districts, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Voting machines alone cost $2,500 each, but that's just the beginning. Districts will need to hire additional poll workers and inform voters about which district they live in and where they can go to vote.

Fairfax County will have to pay an estimated $750,000 for the changes-- something for which the county had not budgeted. Board Chair Sharon Bulova told WTOP that the county will have to "absorb" the differences and seek state and federal funds to help them shoulder the cost.

"I don't know that when the General Assembly did their redistricting process they realized what the cost would be for the localities," Bulova said.

There's cost and confusion for candidates, too. Virginia is one of only 5 states that holds off-year elections, which means that while other states had two years to work out redistricting approval, the Virginia General Assembly had less than a year. For some candidates, it's going to be a scramble to raise money for the August primaries in two months.

"It's made it very difficult for candidates to know, 'I want to run, but am I in the right area? What area am I going to be in?'" said Dr. Haynes, assistant professor of government at Patrick Henry College. He said the most challenging issue is fundraising, when candidates wanted to get a head start on raising money but didn't know what district they'd be in or who they'd be running against.

If Republicans can pick up two Democratic seats, they'll control the House, the Senate and the governor's office for the first time in 10 years.

The plan took particular aim in western Virginia at three of the Senate's most conservative members. First-term Sen. Ralph Smith of Botetourt and longtime Sen. Steve Newman of Lynchburg found themselves sharing a district. Rather than battle each other for the nomination, they looped in another nearby Republican, first-year Sen. Bill Stanley, and came up with a plan.

Stanley agreed to rent a house about 10 miles from the home he owns on picturesque Smith Mountain Lake, moving him from his 19th Senate District just over the line into the 20th. Assuming Stanley can secure the nomination over two lesser-known Republicans, it would set up an intense campaign against Democratic Sen. Roscoe Reynolds.

Smith will move a few short miles into Stanley's old district and run there. When accused of carpet bagging, he notes ancestors in cemeteries on opposite corners of the district that, he estimates, would require 2 hours and 45 minutes to cross by car.

And that leaves Newman unchallenged in his district.

It also sets up an expensive marquee race critical to both parties' success this fall in a redrawn district where nearly 60 percent voted for McDonnell in 2009, but one where Reynolds has dispatched Republican challengers before.

"I fully expect to spend at least $1 million in this race," said Stanley, an attorney elected to fill the unexpired term of Robert Hurt, a Republican elected last fall to Congress.

That kind of money for a campaign in one of the state's poorest, most remote districts?

"This one will be a priority for both sides this year because both sides think they can win it," said political blogger and retired Virginia Commonwealth University political science professor Robert D. Holsworth.

Assuming the GOP is able to hold the 18 seats it has now, there are other races where officials believe they can be competitive. Adam Light, a southwestern Virginia tea party activist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress a year ago, will challenge Sen. Phil Puckett, D-Russell County. And Sen. R. Edward Houck has a well-funded GOP challenger in Bryce Reeves.

Democrats are having to move around under the new plan, too.

Ward Armstrong of Henry County, leader of the Democratic minority in the House of Delegates, says he's running for an 11th term this year, even though the 10th District he has represented for nearly 20 years was transplanted into the northern Virginia suburbs under this year's Republican redistricting plan.

Redistricting put Armstrong's residence into the same district as 59-year-old two-term Republican Don Merricks of Pittsylvania County. Rather than stay put, he says he will move into the 9th District and challenge Poindexter.

Ninth District voters strongly backed Republican Bob McDonnell in the 2009 governor's race. The year before, Republican John McCain won 61 percent of the vote there over Democrat Barack Obama for president.

The redistricting plan that was finally approved and signed into law last month could have been worse for Republicans. The governor vetoed the first version of it, forcing a redraft in which fewer Republicans were grouped in the same district.

Cuccinelli said the Justice Department deserves credit for approving the redrawn districts just 37 days after the plan was submitted. Gov. Bob McDonnell signed the bipartisan compromise plan in late April after vetoing an earlier bill.

"It is good news for voters in the commonwealth, who will be able to go to the polls focused on the issues of the day rather than issues related to redistricting," Cuccinelli said.

Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, either the Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia must approve Virginia's redistricting plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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