Louisiana GOP Moves to Redistrict Following Supreme Court Ruling

Republican legislators in Louisiana are pushing forward with a plan to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional districts. This action follows a Supreme Court decision that deemed the current district map to be a case of racial gerrymandering.

A state Senate committee held a lengthy session that began Tuesday evening and concluded at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. In this marathon meeting, the GOP secured a 4-3 vote in favor of Senate Bill 121, introduced by State Senator Jay Morris (R-La.). This bill proposes striking the problematic district while retaining another majority-Black district stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Morris mentioned that the legislation is based on the map from 2022.

In contrast, another proposal—Senate Bill 407 from State Senator Ed Price (D-La.)—sought to create four majority-White districts alongside two “opportunity districts.” Price argued that this would enable Black voters to have a fair chance in electing their representatives. However, this proposal did not garner enough support to move forward.

Just two weeks prior to the vote, the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s current congressional districts were illegally gerrymandered, rendering the existing lines unconstitutional in a 6-3 decision in the case of Louisiana v. Callais.

Louisiana has a total of six House districts. Should the second majority-Black district be eliminated, the resulting map may favor five Republican districts versus a single Democrat district.

“This 5-1 map is a political power grab,” stated Senator Sam Jenkins (D-La.).

The full Louisiana Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday before it is sent to a House committee. Should both legislative chambers approve it, the bill will then be presented to Governor Jeff Landry (R-La.).

Landry has indicated that a new district map needs to be finalized before the upcoming midterm elections in November, which include several U.S. House races. He had previously halted the state’s primary elections due to what he called an “electoral emergency,” allowing the legislature time to create a new map.

“Permitting elections to occur under an unconstitutional map would compromise the integrity of our system and infringe on voter rights,” Landry remarked in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The new congressional map has moved to the Senate floor for further consideration following its initial committee approval.