More redistricting developments are coming in state legislatures and courts this week, as the aftershocks of the US Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling curbing race-based redistricting continue to reverberate.
The mid-decade redistricting race President Donald Trump and Republicans set off last year with a decision to redraw Texas’ lines has spilled into a nationwide contest for marginal advantages as control of the House remains on a knife’s edge.
Republicans control the chamber by a margin of 217-212, with one independent member, Rep.
Some of those fights have been decided, while others are still up in the air.
Here is where things stand for states considering altering their districts ahead of November.
Alabama
The US Supreme Court on May 11 granted a request from Republican officials to lift a federal court panel’s injunction against the GOP legislature’s 2023 map, which has one Black-majority district.
The federal court panel had put in place for the 2024-2030 elections a remedial proposal with two Black-majority districts, including a Mobile-to-Montgomery district that elected Shomari Figures (D) in 2024. Rep. Terri Sewell (D) since 2011 has represented the Black-majority 7th District, which has most of Birmingham. Alabama has seven districts and is about two-sevenths Black.
The court’s ruling could pave the way for the legislature to substitute its map, which favors Republicans in six of seven districts. It retains the 7th District as a Black-majority, Democratic constituency, and puts Figures’ Mobile hometown in the southwestern 1st District, which is solidly Republican. Montgomery would remain in the 2nd District, which would shift from leaning Democratic to tilting Republican.
“I ran for this seat to be a voice for all of Alabama, and I’m not backing down from that mission now,” Figures said in a statement May 11. “The fight must and will go on.”
Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on May 8 signed a measure authorizing her to call a new special primary in anticipation of a favorable court ruling. Ivey on Tuesday announced that the primary will take place Aug. 11. Alabama’s regular May 19 primary will proceed. Democrats allege the changes are coming too late for the 2026 election.
Louisiana
After Callais voided the state’s 2024 election map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, Republicans are weighing proposals to eliminate one or both majority-Black congressional districts.
Rep.
Gov. Jeff Landry (R) suspended the May 16 House primaries. Democratic lawyers asked a federal court to keep the 2024 congressional map in place for the 2026 midterms.
South Carolina
The GOP legislature is weighing a push for a maximal gerrymander favoring Republicans in all seven districts. A pending proposal would dismantle the Black-plurality 6th District of Rep.
Tennessee
The state’s Republican government enacted a replacement map last week that splinters the Black-majority and strongly Democratic 9th District in Memphis, dispersing those voters into three districts that lean Republican. Three lawsuits are pending.
Florida
A Leon County judge will hold a hearing May 15 with plaintiffs alleging a map signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) violates the state constitution’s prohibition against partisan redistricting and its requirement for compact districts.
Missouri
The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in cases that allege that a new Republican map violated the Missouri Constitution’s compactness requirements. The map fractured the Kansas City-based 5th District of Rep.
Virginia
Democratic officeholders on May 11 asked the US Supreme Court to reinstate a voter-approved congressional map blocked by the state Supreme Court last week — “probably a longshot given that the Virginia high court struck down the new map on state constitutional grounds.”
The Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling was a setback for Democrats in their quest to win control of the House, though independent political analysts say they’re more likely than not to capture at least 218 seats in the chamber this November. Read More
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