Louisiana has suspended its May 16 primary elections for congressional races following the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday on its congressional map, as districts need to be redrawn in order to be legally compliant.
The Supreme Court ruled that one of the state’s majority-minority districts was illegally racially gerrymandered.
“Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map,” Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) and Attorney General Liz Murrill (R-LA) said in a statement on Thursday. “By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.”
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion of the court that “the State’s attempt to satisfy the Middle District’s ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA), the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, blasted the Supreme Court’s decision as a “devastating blow.”
“The consequences of this decision are immediate and severe: the hard-fought progress that led to the creation of two majority-Black congressional districts in Louisiana is now in jeopardy,” Carter said in a statement.
“Let’s be clear: this is not about so-called ‘colorblind’ principles. History has shown us time and again that policies claiming neutrality, from literacy tests to poll taxes, have been used to silence Black voices. Louisiana knows this history all too well. Without the protections of the Voting Rights Act, there is no evidence to suggest that Black voters in our state will be able to elect candidates of their choice,” Carter continued.
It’s unclear if and how the move will impact other races in the state, as other contests are set to occur that day as well, including the hotly-competitive Republican Senate primary between Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
In multiple other states, including Tennessee and Mississippi, map redraws are being weighed that could get rid of deep blue districts that were created under the previous legal scope.
“I’ll keep saying it: the Tennessee legislature should reconvene immediately and REDRAW THE LINES!” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who’s running for governor, posted to X on Thursday. The Volunteer State has a deep blue district in the Memphis area.
Meanwhile, Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves came out ahead of the decision to call for a special session three weeks after the ruling, and it could lead to a redraw of the state’s Second Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS).
In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said her state will not have a special session to change its maps, citing current federal litigation.
“Litigation surrounding Alabama’s congressional districts is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Alabama is currently under a court order prohibiting the use of new congressional districts until after the 2030 census. While we are not in position to have a special session at this time, I hope in light of this new decision, the court is favorable to Alabama,” she stated, according to 1819 News.
Before the court’s decision, states were already taking major mid-decade redistricting actions, including five Democrat-favored seats in California and five Republican-favored seats in Texas. Virginia voted earlier this month to switch to a 10-1 map favoring Democrats with a net gain of four seats, but it is facing a dicey state Supreme Court battle.
In Florida, the legislature rapidly approved a map for four more Republican-favored seats in the Sunshine State following a push from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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