A Virginia judge ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment letting Democrats redraw the state’s Congressional maps was illegal, setting back the party’s efforts to pick up seats in the U.S. House in November. In Maryland, a state House committee advanced a new map that could enable Democrats to defeat the state’s only House Republican, after Gov. Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the Virginia legislature’s actions on three grounds, including finding that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session. Plans for appealVirginia House Speaker Don Scott, who was listed in Republicans’ lawsuit over the resolution, said Democrats would appeal the ruling. A Maryland House committee advanced legislation containing the map to the House, after several hours of testimony from residents.