Former President Obama urged Virginia voters in a new ad to approve a redistricting measure next month that would give Democrats in the Old Dominion State new pickup opportunities ahead of November.

“Over the past year, several Republican-controlled states have taken the unprecedented step of redrawing their congressional maps in the middle of the decade, and they’ve done it for a simple reason to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms this fall,” Obama said in an ad for the group behind the Virginia redistricting measure.
“In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states,” he added.

Virginia Democrats are teeing up a referendum for April 21 that asks voters to allow lawmakers to pass a new set of congressional lines, bypassing the state’s independent redistricting commission. Early voting begins on Friday.