Republicans in Louisiana have followed up on a Supreme Court ruling by eliminating one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts, diluting Black voting power in the state. The move will likely replace one of the state’s Black Democratic representatives with a Republican and have wider ramifications for control of Congress and for Black voting power in the country.
Louisiana eliminates one of its two majority-Black districts
On Friday, Louisiana’s Republican-controlled state legislature officially passed a bill to redraw the state’s congressional district lines and eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black districts. The move followed a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Louisiana v. Callais case, in which the court ruled that the state had improperly used race to ensure that two of the state’s six districts were majority-Black, which corresponds to the roughly one-third of the state’s population that is Black. The immediate impact of Louisiana’s redistricting is to carve up the 6th District that currently covers the Shreveport area and is represented by Congressman Cleo Fields.
Republicans considered dividing the state’s other majority-Black district, the New Orleans-centered 2nd District represented by Congressman Troy Carter, but they feared that spreading too many Black voters across Republican districts could endanger safe GOP seats, such as that of House Speaker Mike Johnson. In order to accommodate redistricting, Gov. Jeff Landry halted primary elections that were already in progress, throwing out roughly 40,000 votes that had already been cast. Primaries under the new map are now scheduled for Nov. 3, the date of the general election in the rest of the country, with Louisiana’s general election pushed back to Dec. 12.
Republicans push wave of partisan, racist redistricting
Louisiana’s redistricting caps a national wave of gerrymandering that was kicked off in 2025 when President Trump pressured Republican-led states like Texas and North Carolina to eliminate some of their Democratic-controlled congressional districts ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Some Democratic-led states, such as California, responded with their own partisan redistricting.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Callais case set off a second wave of gerrymandering that specifically targeted Black-dominated districts in states like Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee. Louisiana’s redistricting might be the last to occur before the elections: South Carolina rejected efforts to redraw its map, the Supreme Court blocked a Democratic redistricting effort in Virginia, and a federal court again blocked Alabama’s GOP-drawn map that was previously ruled to be racially biased against Black voters, though that case could make its way to the Supreme Court, which could reverse its previous ruling concerning Alabama and allow the Republican map to stand.
Eliminating protections for Black voting power and representation
The conservative-dominated Supreme Court has not only sided with Republicans in most of the redistricting efforts it has judged, but it has laid the groundwork for a dilution of Black voting power and Black representation that some say will be comparable to the end of Reconstruction. The court had previously ruled that partisan-based redistricting is permissible, allowing a wave of mostly Republican-led gerrymandering.
While racial gerrymandering is not allowed, the Louisiana v. Callais ruling undermines the ability to enforce this provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in two ways. First, the ruling severely limits the ability of courts to determine that redistricting violates Black voting rights. The Supreme Court now essentially requires lawmakers to explicitly state that they are drawing boundaries on the basis of race. Second, because Black voters tend to overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party, Republicans can now claim that their efforts to dilute Black voting power are based on party and not race, despite the clear racial process and impact.
Experts warn that up to one-third of the current members of the Congressional Black Caucus could lose their seats as a result of redistricting before the 2026 midterm elections.
As primaries continue and the general election approaches, Black voters in Louisiana will see their influence diluted and likely have one less Black member of Congress representing them in Washington, D.C. The Republican redistricting victory in Louisiana, combined with other efforts allowed by the Supreme Court and carried out across the country, may determine which party controls Congress in 2027 and could impact how much say Black voters have over Washington for years to come.