Louisiana Legislature Passes Congressional Map That Eliminates Majority-Black District After Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling

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. Lawmakers moved 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. The rescheduled primaries are now set for Nov. 3.

Redistricting Timeline and Legal Context

Following the Supreme Court ruling, and just days before early voting was set to begin — with tens of thousands of voters having already returned mail ballots — Republican Gov. Jeff Landry pushed to delay the House primary elections originally scheduled for May 16, allowing the legislature to redraw the map. The new map dismantles a majority-Black district that zigzagged from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, which 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 Voting Rights Act only protects against political lines drawn with the intent of discriminating on the basis of race.

Governor’s Rationale and Legislative Debates

"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.

New District Boundaries and Incumbent Representatives

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. 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.

Context

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.