Louisiana lawmakers pass a congressional map to dismantle a majority-Black district
People walk into a New Orleans school to cast their votes in Louisiana’s statewide primary on May 16.
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Michael DeMocker/Getty Images
Republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House.
Louisiana lawmakers raced to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional seats in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the current map unconstitutional in a sweeping decision last month that severely weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Following that ruling, and just days before early voting was set to begin — and with tens of thousands of voters having already returned mail ballots — Republican Gov. Jeff Landry pushed to delay the House primary elections scheduled for May 16, allowing the legislature to redraw the map.
The rescheduled primaries are now set for Nov. 3.
The new map dismantles a majority-Black district that zigzagged from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, and was created as a result of a 2022 lawsuit. That case argued that Louisiana lawmakers illegally diluted Black voting power by failing to draw a second majority-Black district in a state where Black voters account for roughly one third of the population. A court agreed, and Louisiana legislators passed the current map.
That map was then challenged in the case that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices ruled that Section 2 of the VRA only protects against political lines drawn with the intent of discriminating on the basis of race.
“The best way to end race-based discrimination is to stop making decisions based on race,” Landry wrote in the executive order delaying the House primaries.
Some Republicans pressed lawmakers to draw a map that would give the GOP the advantage in all six of Louisiana’s congressional districts. Legislators opted to eliminate only one of the majority-Black districts held by Democrats, fearing that going further could make other districts held by Republican incumbents like House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise too competitive.
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The new map includes one majority-Black district that will encompass most of New Orleans, stretching out to predominantly Black neighborhoods in Baton Rouge.
Baton Rouge’s Black population is split between two districts. And Shreveport is absorbed into the rest of northwest Louisiana.
The current Baton Rouge-based district is represented by Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields, who won the seat in 2024 and represented a similar district from 1992 until it was dismantled following a federal court decision in 1996. Democratic Rep. Troy Carter represents the other majority-Black district, centered around New Orleans.
Louisiana is the latest Southern state to redraw its maps, targeting Black Democrats, following the Supreme Court ruling.
Tennessee eliminated its sole Democratic-held seat, a majority-Black district in Memphis. Alabama got Supreme Court approval to revert to its 2023 map, which eliminates one largely Black district, though it’s now been blocked again. Governors in Georgia and Mississippi also plan to propose redraws of their congressional maps, to take effect after the midterms.
The rush to redistrict across the South comes on the heels of a broader redistricting war nationwide, spurred by President Trump’s effort to build an advantage as Republicans try to maintain control of a narrowly divided House this fall.
Rahul Mukherjee contributed reporting.
What stands out is the new map dismantles a majority-Black district that zigzagged from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, and was created as a result of a 2022 lawsuit. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Basically louisiana lawmakers raced to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional seats in the state after the U.S. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
The bigger issue here is republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House. That changes the calculation.
On one hand people walk into a New Orleans school to cast their votes in Louisiana’s statewide primary on May 16. But at the same time republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House.
When you look at following that ruling, and just days before early voting was set to begin — and with tens of thousands of voters having already returned mail ballots — Republican Gov, the implications are hard to ignore.
Republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House. Meanwhile louisiana lawmakers raced to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional seats in the state after the U.S.
Still waiting to hear what Republican Gov actually plans to do about it.
Considering louisiana lawmakers raced to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional seats in the state after the U.S, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
What stands out is following that ruling, and just days before early voting was set to begin — and with tens of thousands of voters having already returned mail ballots — Republican Gov. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The fact that the new map dismantles a majority-Black district that zigzagged from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, and was created as a result of a 2022 lawsuit really puts things into perspective.
Reading that following that ruling, and just days before early voting was set to begin — and with tens of thousands of voters having already returned mail ballots — Republican Gov — hard to argue with the logic there.
When you look at republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House, the implications are hard to ignore.
The detail about republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House is something people should sit with.
So the bottom line is republicans in the Louisiana legislature have approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterms that will likely net their party one seat in the race to control the House. Wonder how this will land.
On one hand the new map dismantles a majority-Black district that zigzagged from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, and was created as a result of a 2022 lawsuit. But at the same time people walk into a New Orleans school to cast their votes in Louisiana’s statewide primary on May 16.