BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In a significant political maneuver, Louisiana’s Senate, dominated by Republicans, is set to approve a redistricting plan on Friday aimed at reinforcing GOP control of the U.S. House come November. This move positions Louisiana among the latest Southern states contemplating the removal of a majority-Black congressional district that traditionally elected a Democrat.
The anticipated Senate vote will address a redistricting proposal designed to potentially allow Republicans to secure an additional seat. This follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision in late April, which deemed Louisiana’s existing congressional district map as an unlawful racial gerrymander.
The revised map, which passed the House with significant support on Thursday, is now on the brink of final approval by the Legislature. Once this is achieved, Republican Governor Jeff Landry is expected to endorse it by signing it into law.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling, several Republican-led Southern states have taken advantage of the weakened federal Voting Rights Act to attempt their own redistricting. This marks another chapter in the intense nationwide redistricting conflict, intensifying ahead of the November elections with influences tied to former President Donald Trump.
Currently, Republicans appear to be leading in the redistricting efforts. However, this does not guarantee a victory in the closely contested U.S. House in November. The GOP estimates potential gains of up to 14 seats from their redistricting initiatives, while Democrats anticipate gaining six seats from redrawn districts in California and Utah.
In Louisiana, Republicans currently hold four of six congressional seats on a court-ordered map drawn in 2024 to comply with the Voting Rights Act by including a second district with a majority-Black population.
That map, however, was challenged in court, and the Supreme Court responded on April 30 by striking it down as an illegal racial gerrymander.
Landry postponed the state’s U.S. House primary, scheduled for May 16, until later this summer to allow time for Republican lawmakers to draw and pass a new map.
The proposed map redraws Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields’ district, clustering it around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana. It also adds part of Baton Rouge to a heavily Democratic, majority-Black district based in New Orleans currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter.
More lawsuits were expected over the new map.
Democrats say the proposed map could still constitute a racial gerrymander because it packs Black voters into a single congressional district. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision criticized the Legislature’s map for leaving a majority-Black district in place.
Several other Southern states also have acted on redistricting since the Supreme Court’s decision.
Florida’s Legislature passed new congressional districts just hours after the ruling, completing a redrawing that was in the works in anticipation of the decision. It could yield Republicans as many as four additional seats in the midterm elections.
Tennessee adopted new U.S. House districts a week after the ruling, carving up a majority-Black district based in Memphis in a Republican attempt to win an additional seat.
In Alabama, Republicans are attempting to pick up another seat by redrawing two districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it. Democrats hold both seats, and the proposal is mired in a court battle.
South Carolina’s Senate, meanwhile, decided against redistricting, despite pressure from Trump.