Louisiana Republicans approved a new congressional map on Friday that eliminates a majority-Black congressional district, a move that follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act. The new map reconfigures the state's sixth congressional district, currently represented by Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat. Lawmakers had drawn the district in 2024 after a court found that the previous map, enacted after the 2020 census, diluted Black voters' influence and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
New Map Shifts Political Power
The newly approved map is expected to give Republicans control of five of Louisiana's six congressional seats, compared to the previous 4-2 split in favor of Republicans. The bill now heads to Republican Governor Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it. The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union condemned the map, stating, "It does exactly what it was designed to do: consolidate white political power by cracking Black communities apart and drowning their votes in Republican-dominated districts." The ACLU added that Black voters in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and along the corridor represented by Fields had actively opposed the map but were disregarded.
Legal Background and Emergency Action
The creation of Fields's district had prompted a lawsuit from a group of white voters who argued that voters were unlawfully sorted by race. The case, Louisiana v. Callais, reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-3 in favor of the plaintiffs. The ruling set a new standard requiring plaintiffs in Voting Rights Act cases to prove intentional discrimination to win redistricting lawsuits. Following the Supreme Court's decision in late April, Governor Landry took the extraordinary step of declaring an emergency to cancel the state's congressional primary, even though ballots had already been distributed. He rescheduled the election for later this year.
Regional Trend
Louisiana is one of three Republican-led Southern states that have moved aggressively after the Supreme Court's ruling to eliminate majority-Black districts and add Republican-leaning ones. Tennessee and Alabama have also sought to implement new maps that favor Republican candidates. The ACLU vowed that the fight is not over, emphasizing that affected communities will continue to resist the changes.
