Louisiana lawmakers pass a congressional map to dismantle a majority-Black district

Elections Louisiana lawmakers pass a congressional map to dismantle a majority-Black district May 29, 20261:14 PM ET By  Sam Gringlas People walk into a New Orleans school to cast their votes in Louisiana's statewide primary on May 16. Michael DeMocker/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption 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. Sponsor Message The rescheduled primaries are now set for Nov. 3. Elections A majority-Black district in Louisiana traces a long fight over the Voting Rights Act 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 execu...