Louisiana Legislature Passes GOP-Favorable Congressional Map Eliminating Majority-Black District]

Louisiana Legislature Passes GOP-Favorable Congressional Map Eliminating Majority-Black District]

Louisiana lawmakers approved a new congressional district map that shifts the balance toward Republicans, eliminating one of the state’s two majority-Black districts currently held by Democrats.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the map on Friday, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April that struck down Louisiana’s previous map as an illegal racial gerrymander for containing two majority-Black districts. That decision weakened protections under the 1965 Voting Rights Act and energized a broader Republican-led redistricting effort across the South ahead of the midterm elections.

The new map, expected to be signed into law by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, would give Republicans a fifth seat in Louisiana’s congressional delegation. While Republicans previously considered redrawing boundaries to win all six seats, that approach risked adding Democratic voters to GOP districts, potentially backfiring on election day.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Jay Morris, stated the map was drawn based on party affiliation rather than race. He said he instructed demographers to exclude racial data from their work, asserting that a Democratic-leaning district in the Baton Rouge area was restructured to benefit Republican candidates elsewhere.

Democrats criticized the map as racially gerrymandered, arguing it dilutes Black political influence. “I think it’s a racially gerrymandered district that’s going to get us into a lot of trouble,” said Democratic State Senator Sam Jenkins. “Agree to disagree,” Morris replied.

The map redraws portions of Representative Cleo Fields’ district to include more white communities around Baton Rouge, while adding part of Baton Rouge to the heavily Democratic, majority-Black district represented by Representative Troy Carter in New Orleans. Legal challenges are expected, with the ACLU of Louisiana calling the map “a racial gerrymander hiding behind the thin veneer of partisanship.”

Since the Supreme Court’s April ruling, several Southern states have redrawn their congressional districts to favor Republicans, with Democrats predicting they may gain seats in California and Utah in response.

In a related development, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court decision dismissing a bipartisan challenge to that state’s GOP-friendly congressional map, which currently gives Republicans six of eight seats despite only two being considered competitive.

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