In a significant development, a federal court on Tuesday invalidated a recently redrawn congressional map that established a second majority-Black district in Louisiana. This decision could potentially impact the Democrats’ efforts to regain control of the US House in the upcoming November elections.
The controversial map, which carved out the new 6th Congressional District by cutting diagonally through the state, was deemed an unconstitutional racial gerrymander by US District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays. Both judges, appointed by former President Donald Trump, were part of a three-judge panel that oversaw an April trial challenging the map. The third judge, Carl Stewart of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals and a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, opposed the decision.
Given the contentious nature of the ruling, an appeal to the US Supreme Court seems likely, casting uncertainty over the map to be used in this year’s elections. State officials have expressed the need to finalize the district’s boundaries by May 15 to prepare for the fall elections.
Officials from a Democratic redistricting group led by former US Attorney General Eric Holder anticipate an application for an emergency stay to be filed with the Supreme Court, urging the justices to maintain the current map.
Louisiana is among several states embroiled in prolonged legal disputes over redistricting following the 2020 census. The creation of new districts with substantial Black populations in Louisiana and Alabama were hailed as significant victories for voting rights activists and could potentially influence the balance of power in the House, where Republicans currently hold a slim majority.
Earlier this year, Louisiana’s GOP-controlled Legislature, backed by newly elected Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, approved a map with the new district to comply with a federal court order that found the state in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. Despite Black residents constituting approximately a third of Louisiana’s population, the state has only one Black lawmaker, who is also the sole Democrat, in its six-member US House delegation.
The redrawn district lines threatened the reelection chances of the current 6th District officeholder, Republican Rep. Garret Graves, who had supported a Landry rival in the 2023 governor’s race. Supporters of the Legislature’s map contended that political factors, not just race, influenced its design. Graves had previously predicted the map would not withstand legal scrutiny.
A group of non-Black voters challenged the district lines in court, asserting that they violated the US Constitution’s equal protection clause. The court majority concurred, citing evidence from the trial, including demographic data, that “race was the predominant factor driving decisions made by the State in drawing the contours of District 6.”
Eric Holder, who chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, strongly condemned the ruling in a statement on Tuesday night, arguing that it “unnecessarily puts Louisianians’ right to vote in a very precarious position.” He advocated for the map approved by state lawmakers to remain in effect for the 2024 election.
This story has been updated with additional details.