BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana legislators passed a new congressional map Friday designed to help Republicans gain an additional House seat while eliminating one of the state’s two Black-majority districts, both currently represented by Democrats. The approval follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the previous map for racial gerrymandering, which weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to court documents.
The new map, approved in a 28-10 vote by the state Senate, reflects Republican arguments that a 5-1 district configuration is safer for the GOP and better shields House Speaker Mike Johnson from a tough reelection. Currently, Republicans hold four of Louisiana’s six congressional seats. The debate centered on Democrats’ claims that the map is racially gerrymandered to concentrate Black voters, who tend to vote Democratic, into a single district.
Republican State Sen. Jay Morris, the bill’s sponsor, denied racial motives, stating that party affiliation, not race, dictated district boundaries. Morris added that he instructed demographers to avoid including racial data in the map’s design. Democratic State Sen. Sam Jenkins criticized the map as racially gerrymandered, but Morris dismissed the concern, saying, “Agree to disagree.”
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the new map into law. The state had been using a court-ordered map from 2024, which was challenged and ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court. The governor also moved the upcoming U.S. House primary from May 16 to Nov. 3 to give lawmakers time to finalize the redistricting plan, with all candidates running in the same district regardless of party.
The proposed map redraws Rep. Cleo Fields’ district to include more white communities near Baton Rouge and southern Louisiana, and shifts part of Baton Rouge into a majority-Black district represented by Democrat Troy Carter. Democrats and plaintiffs have signaled that legal challenges over the map’s racial implications are likely. Democratic State Sen. Royce Duplessis criticized the process, calling it “building a house on a broken foundation.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling, several other Southern states, including Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama, have also redrawn districts, often in favor of Republicans. While Republicans estimate they could gain as many as 15 seats through redistricting, Democrats believe they could secure up to six seats in states like California and Utah. The political landscape remains uncertain ahead of the midterm elections, which will be held with newly drawn districts.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
