VIRGINIA — U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, voiced agreement during a radio interview when host Rich Herrera used the phrase "cotton-picking" while discussing the state's redistricting fight. Democratic leaders and California Governor Gavin Newsom have since called on Kiggans to resign.

During the interview, Herrera criticized House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his support of redrawing Virginia's congressional map. "Get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia," Herrera said. Kiggans responded, "Yes. Yes to that."

The term "cotton picking" is typically seen to have racist roots in the U.S., where enslaved Black people were used as labor on southern cotton plantations until the mid-19th century. Kiggans later denied condoning Herrera's language, saying she had been agreeing with the broader point about Democratic involvement in state redistricting.

"The radio host should not have used that language and I do not — and did not — condone it," she said. "It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jefferies should stay out of Virginia," Kiggans added.

Christie Stephenson, a spokesperson for Jeffries, condemned the exchange. "Extremists who endorse disgusting, vile and racist language are pathetic," Stephenson said. She also said, "Jen Kiggans has no interest in our nation's progress toward a multiracial democracy and apparently craves a return to the days of Jim Crow racial oppression in the South."

U.S. Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Newsom joined the calls for Kiggans to step down. The Congressional Black Caucus posted a clip of the radio exchange on X and also called for her resignation.

The dispute unfolded as Virginia's congressional map remains contested. In April 2026, Virginia voters approved a redrawn map that would have increased the number of Democrat-leaning districts. The Supreme Court of Virginia invalidated that map, and Democrats appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

States typically redraw their congressional electoral maps once a decade to reflect census results. Partisan gerrymandering is not illegal under U.S. law, though racial discrimination is outlawed, and the Voting Rights Act of 1973 has been used to ensure fair representation at the ballot box. In late April 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, weakening its enforcement and making it easier to break up predominantly Black congressional districts absent explicitly racist motivations. Civil rights groups said it would be near impossible to prove such motivations in redistricting cases under the ruling and warned it could dilute the voting power of Black Americans.