The court’s ruling last week, which struck down Louisiana's electoral map, weakened a core provision of the landmark law, opening the door for Republicans, especially in Southern states, to eliminate majority-minority districts in order to draw new voting lines that could help the GOP win additional House seats.
In Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the state’s May 16 primaries to allow lawmakers to create new congressional maps following the Supreme Court ruling. A special legislative session called by Gov. Kay Ivey soon after began in Alabama on Monday, where legislators are weighing a bill that would allow calling for special primary elections if the Supreme Court rules to let the state use a previously blocked congressional map following its Voting Rights Act decision. And the following day, lawmakers in Tennessee convened for a similar session called by Gov. Bill Lee to consider a redistricting plan that could get rid of the district including the majority-Black city of Memphis, the only one in the state currently represented by a Democrat.
President Donald Trump, who sparked the redistricting battle last year when he called on Republican state leaders to redraw their maps, has encouraged states to do so following the ruling, noting the potential to gain additional GOP seats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said to reporters days earlier following the court’s decision that he thinks “all states who have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully” before the midterms.
But after Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new congressional map into law in his state on Monday, the GOP appears to be coming out ahead in the redistricting war, standing to gain at least one seat in the House as a result of redrawing lines in multiple states
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, in which it ruled that redrawing voting lines to create a second Black-majority district in the state was an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” Gov. Landry issued an Executive Order suspending congressional primaries just as early voting was about to begin.
Landry’s order has postponed the primaries until July 15, or a date determined by the state legislature. State lawmakers have said they will pass a new map before the end of their regular legislative session in a month.
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted a request to expedite its decision last week, which will allow Louisiana to redraw its maps ahead of the November elections.
Republicans currently occupy four of the state’s House seats, while Democrats hold two. Both chambers of the state legislature are controlled by the GOP.
Alabama
That day, Ivey called for the state legislature to convene to consider legislation that would allow Alabama to hold special primary elections for the U.S. House and state Senate in “districts whose boundary lines are altered by a court issuing a judgment, vacating an injunction, or otherwise ordering or permitting an alteration in the boundaries of such districts.”
Republicans now hold five of the state’s House seats compared to Democrats’ two, following the implementation of a court-selected map that created a second substantially Black district. If the previous court injunction is lifted, the boundaries of the district currently represented by Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat, would change significantly.
Alabama’s primaries are scheduled for May 19.
Tennessee
“After consultation with the Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible,” he said.
No proposed map had been revealed by Republican lawmakers as of Monday afternoon. Republicans, in addition to controlling both chambers of the state legislature, currently hold eight out of Tennessee’s nine House seats.
The state’s primaries are scheduled for Aug. 6.
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