(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) A clip of an April 23 floor debate in the Virginia Senate over a controversial gerrymandering amendment raised further questions about the flimsy pretenses state Democrats were using in a bid to wrest control of the U.S. House by disfranchising rural voters.
State Sen. Lamont Bagby, a Democrat who represents parts of metropolitan Richmond, claimed that he could speak on behalf of voters in red districts because he had studied up by watching classic television series like the Andy Griffith Show and The Waltons.
NEW: During a floor debate on gerrymandering, Virginia State Senator Lamont Bagby (D) says he knows a little bit about rural America because he watched Dukes of Hazzard. pic.twitter.com/b3BtbLn4V1
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) April 23, 2026
“Listen, I almost took issue with the other side saying that we don’t understand,” Bagby said.
“But I grew up watching The Waltons. I grew up with Opie [Ron Howard’s character on the Andy Griffith Show]. I even watched the Dukes of Hazzard,” he added. “I think I know a little bit about rural America.”
The Waltons was based on the true-life experiences of Earl Hamner Jr., who grew up during the Great Depression in the Piedmont region of central Virginia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains. The other two shows were set in fictional locations in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively.
As laughs could be heard off camera from the floor of the legislature, Bagby proceeded to invoke the names of several black characters — including Theo Huxtable of The Cosby Show; and Arnold and Willis Drummond, the two black adopted children on Diff’rent Strokes — before circling back to list more white sitcom characters.
“When I think about why we’re here, we’re not just here — I’m not just here for Theo. I’m not just here for Arnold or Willis,” he said. “I’m here for Opie, John-Boy [Walton]. Blossom, Topanga [the love interest on Boy Meets World].”
In addition to being a state senator, Bagby was elected chair of the state Democratic Party last year.
Critics have cast aspersions on both the motives and the legality of the effort by Virginia Democrats to gerrymander the state via a recent ballot referendum to suspend their bipartisan redistricting commission.
Many have called out the hypocrisy of former President Barack Obama and Gov. Abigail Spanberger, both of whom previously denounced the dangers of partisan gerrymandering until the opportunity came for Democrats to benefit themselves politically.
Here Spanberger is denouncing gerrymandering. pic.twitter.com/VzNOEEEbWU
— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) April 21, 2026
If courts approve the newly passed measure, it would likely flip Virginia from a 6-5 ratio of Democrat-to-Republican congressional seats into a 10-1 advantage for the radical Left. Five of the newly redrawn districts would begin in deep-blue Fairfax County before fanning out to more rural regions throughout the state.
Democrats maintain that the measure would be “temporary” and that the normal redistricting process would resume in 2030. They have claimed that the move was intended to “restore fairness” in response to the legally supported moves that red states, including Texas, had made to redraw their maps last year.
Democrats, buoyed by dark money from outside the state, outspent Republicans by a roughly three-to-one margin to run ads to support the referendum.
Moreover, several questions surround election irregularities, including a late-night ballot drop and reports of disappearing votes in many counties on election night. President Donald Trump has denounced the special election as “rigged.”
Spanberger, a former CIA operative, campaigned as a moderate but proceeded to pass a raft of radical policies upon taking office, including massive tax hikes, attacks on Second Amendment rights and a reversal of policies cooperating with federal immigration officials.
She also signed onto the controversial National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would effectively hand control of all presidential elections to large blue states like California, New York and Illinois by ignoring the role of the Electoral College.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
