Louisiana Approves Map That Cuts One Majority-Black District
Lawmakers approved a map that would reduce Black-majority districts to one, likely helping Republicans and sending the plan to Gov. Jeff Landry for signature.
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Overview
Louisiana lawmakers approved a congressional map Friday that would eliminate one of two majority-Black districts and was sent to Gov. Jeff Landry for expected signature.
The move follows the U.S. Supreme Court's April 30 decision that struck down Louisiana's prior map as an illegal racial gerrymander and weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Republican backers including state Sen. Jay Morris defended the map as meeting traditional redistricting criteria, while Democrats and voting rights advocates criticized it as discriminatory and said legal challenges were expected.
The plan would likely yield five Republican and one Democratic U.S. House seat, cutting majority-Black districts from two to one in a state where about a third of residents are Black.
The map is expected to face legal challenges, and the state delayed House primaries to Nov. 3 with any runoffs pushed to December after discarding some 40,000 primary votes.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story as a partisan advantage for Republicans by leading with the map’s elimination of a Democratic district and a headline stressing a GOP gain. Editorial choices highlight opposition voices—quotes about “cracking and packing” and a “Frankenstein” map—and offer Brennan Center definitions, while proponents’ defenses receive limited context.