Louisiana Senate Passes House Map Dropping Majority-Black District

Two weeks after the US Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's congressional map, state senators passed a plan Thursday that would eliminate a majority-Black district while giving Republicans a chance to win an additional seat in this year's midterm elections. The new US House districts, which still need approval by the state House, would be used for primary elections poised to be postponed from Saturday until November, the AP reports. The ruling has led to a flurry of redistricting efforts in Southern states as Republicans seek to capitalize on a weakened federal Voting Rights Act. While most of those efforts are voluntary, Louisiana must redraw its congressional map in response to the ruling that it had illegally used race to gerrymander a majority-Black district.

The Louisiana legislation addresses the Supreme Court decision by scrapping a district that snakes over 200 miles northwest from the capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport, creating a voting bloc with a majority of Black residents. Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields represents the current 6th District. Under the new plan, that district would instead be clustered around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana. The new plan keeps a New Orleans-based, majority-Black district represented by Democratic Rep. Troy Carter while adding a portion of Baton Rouge to it. Fields, a Baton Rouge resident, said he won't decide whether to seek reelection until the maps are finalized. But he said he won't challenge Carter in a primary.

The newly proposed House map is similar to one used in 2022 that resulted in five Republicans and one Democrat winning election. Republican state Sen. Jay Morris said the new map packs Democrats into the 2nd District held by Carter to allow Republicans to prevail elsewhere. "These maps are drawn to maximize Republican advantage for the incumbent Republicans that we have in Congress," Morris said. Democratic state Sen. Sam Jenkins suggested Republicans are "using partisanship as cover for discriminatory practices against a group of people, particularly Black voters and Democrats." After the Supreme Court ruling, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry postponed Louisiana's US House primaries, which were scheduled for Saturday. A bill given final approval Wednesday by the Legislature would shift the election to an open primary on Nov. 3.