Why the battle over Louisiana’s voting map could have national election implications

UPDATE 4:40 p.m. Eastern, Jan. 19: Louisiana lawmakers passed a new congressional map Friday that included a second majority-Black district. The legislation — Senate Bill 8 — now heads to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk for his signature, and then to a federal judge for approval. The deadline for a new map is Jan. 30.

BATON ROUGE, La. — Time is running out for Louisiana to redraw the state congressional map.

Lawmakers face a Jan. 30 deadline to submit a redesign of the state’s six congressional districts after a federal court said the current map violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. The redesign must create a second majority-Black district, the court said. Black Louisianans make up a third of the state’s population, but Louisiana’s current congressional map, drawn with 2020 census data, has white majorities in five of six districts.

If the Republican-led Legislature fails to meet that goal, it could face a trial that leaves redistricting in the hands of a federal judge ahead of 2024 elections. A second majority-Black district could allow Democrats a chance to win one of the seats currently held by Republicans.

WATCH: How challenges to the Voting Rights Act could reshape the political landscape

This week, lawmakers gathered for the start of an eight-day special session, its third redistricting session in two years. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry invoked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and urged lawmakers to take action so the decision is not made “by some heavy-handed member of the federal judiciary.”

“We have exhausted all legal remedies, and we have labored this issue for far too long,” Landry said. “Now once and for all, I think it’s time that we put this to bed. Let us make the necessary adjustments.”

It may signal a softening — or at least a willingness to move on — after the latest legal battle came to a head in November, when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the Legislature back to the drawing board.

Gov. Jeff Landry shakes hands with Louisiana lawmakers while entering the state Capitol’s House chamber Jan. 15, 2024, the first day of a special session on redistricting and election matters. Photo by Michael Johnson/The Advocate, Pool

Some Republican lawmakers believe it’s time to move forward.

“Our thoughts, feelings, and opinions don’t matter as much as the fact that the court has said, ‘Look, you guys have to draw another map.’ So we’re going to draw the map and I think we’ll have a map at the end of the special session,” state Rep. Jay Galle, a Republican from St. Tammany Parish, told WDSU-TV.

Why Louisiana is redrawing its map

The political tug-of-war started in March 2022 after the state Legislature passed a new map that essentially kept the status quo in racial representation. Then-Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed the plan, saying it did “not meet the standards set forth in the federal Voting Rights Act.”

“The Legislature should immediately begin the work of drawing a map that ensures Black voices can be properly heard in the voting booth. It can be done, and it should be done,” he said.

In a special session that same year, the Legislature overrode his veto and the case headed to federal court.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick agreed with arguments of civil rights groups’ that brought the case and in June struck down Louisiana’s map for violating the Voting Rights Act, calling it “a racial gerrymander.”

Louisiana’s redistricting case was then put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court pending its decision in a similar case in Alabama. Then in October, the nation’s highest court refused to intervene, which sent the case back to Dick, an appointee of President Barack Obama, to let the lawsuit run its course.

“I don’t think there’s any perfect maps out there. I think that we’re in a position where we’re not starting from scratch, but we have a lot to work with,” Rep. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat from New Orleans, told the PBS NewsHour. “We’ve spent enough state resources, we’ve done enough litigation. It’s time to move on from this, so that we can have the maps in place for the fall elections.”

A ProPublica investigation shows how some state legislatures are using legislative privilege to drag out redistricting lawsuits. ProPublica reporter Marilyn Thompson joins John Yang to discuss. Video by PBS NewsHour

Democrats have argued that the map discriminates against Black voters and that there should be two majority-minority districts. Republicans say the map is fair and argue that Black populations in the state are too dispersed to be united into a second majority Black district.

“The reality is that the districts that they currently have do not fully represent the African American population. It dilutes African American voting strength,” said Silas Lee, a sociologist at Xavier University of Louisiana and longtime Louisiana political pollster. “It would be best to make the correction as necessary versus extending this process out and trying to litigate it, which will again, not change the outcome. It’s a question of: Do you want to accept what is inevitably going to happen?”

What’s at stake?

The stakes of redrawing maps are high during a political year. Republicans have consolidated historic power in Louisiana, but the outcome of this redistricting case may mean giving up a congressional seat.

The state has a Republican governor and Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature. A Republican leads every statewide elected office for the first time since the Reconstruction Era.

Currently, Republicans hold five of the state’s six congressional districts. Another mostly Black district could deliver a second congressional seat to Democrats.

Political pollster Lee said Louisiana is not alone in the fight over redistricting. Court challenges in Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama mean Democrats could pick up several seats in the House of Representatives if Republican-drawn gerrymandered districts are undone. The disputes could throw a wrench in the GOP’s effort to maintain their slim majority in the House.

In the Alabama case, a federal judge in October drew new congressional lines for a second majority Black district, which could potentially flip one House seat from Republican to Democratic control.

READ MORE: Wisconsin Supreme Court calls for legislative maps to be redrawn in case brought by Democrats

In Louisiana, lawmakers so far appear to agree on moving forward, they disagree on how to carve up the map. At a news conference before the start of the session, the Legislative Black Caucus urged their colleagues again to support a second majority-minority district.

While Johnson has supported going to trial over the map, Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat from New Orleans who represents the only Black majority-minority district, said kicking the matter back to the courts is not the answer.

Voting rights advocates from the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and the Legal Defense Fund hold signs reading “Fight for Fair Maps” on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol building Jan. 15, moments before the redistricting special session began. Both groups are plaintiffs in a federal case fighting for a second majority-Black district. Photo courtesy of Legal Defense Fund

“Louisiana has unconstitutional congressional maps. We have been given an opportunity to correct this and look to the future,” he said. “The right thing is two seats that give a legitimate opportunity for an African American candidate to run, win and serve.”

What’s the leading proposal?

On the first day of the special session, several new bills were filed. One of the most viable plans is a proposal by state Sen. Glen Womack, a Republican from Harrisonburg. Senate Bill 8 is the plan favored by Landry and would greatly affect the district of a political foe, Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from Baton Rouge. Graves did not support Landry during the recent gubernatorial election and didn’t endorse Steve Scalise’s failed bid for House speaker.

Womack’s reconfigured map for the 6th Congressional District would flow like the Red River across the state, from Shreveport in the north to Alexandria in central Louisiana and down to Baton Rouge.

A screenshot of the proposed map from Louisiana Sen. Glen Womack, which would change the congressional boundaries of the 6th Congressional District (shown in light pink) to create a new majority-Black district. Under Louisiana’s current congressional map, 23 percent of the voting-age population in this district is Black. That number would increase to 54 percent under Womack’s plan. Image courtesy of Senate Bill 8

Womack said his map was the only one that “accomplished the political goals I believe are important for my district.” Those goals included protecting U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’s seat – the senator is from the congresswoman’s district – and “maintaining strong districts” for House speaker Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.”

There are other proposals that would reconfigure Lutlow’s seat but there is a growing desire to preserve the seat of the only woman in Louisiana’s congressional delegation. Graves, whose reelection would be at risk under Womack’s plan, said in a statement that it “would not survive judicial scrutiny.”

Womack’s bill advanced out of the state Senate with little debate on Wednesday. It now heads to the House for approval.

Two days into the special session, Speaker Johnson split with state leaders over Womack’s new map, saying he was “very concerned” about the proposal. He prefers that the existing map go to trial instead of what he called an “unnecessary surrender of a Republican seat in Congress.”

“It remains my position that the existing map is constitutional and that the legal challenge to it should be tried on merits,” Johnson said in a post on X, formally Twitter.

What’s next?

Supporters of a redesign to include a second majority-Black district say if the Legislature falls short, the legal battle will continue.

“Along with our coalition partners, we are anticipating and preparing for every potential scenario and outcome. We’ve been on this journey for two and a half years now, why would we stop now?” said A’Niya Robinson, an advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Louisiana. “A lot is at stake. I would just hope that those elected officials would remember that whatever a loss may seem like to them, hopefully they can see that to some Louisianans it’s actually a victory and a chance for recognition and representation.”

Liz Murrill, the newly elected state attorney general, warned lawmakers at the start of the special session that while she did not think the state’s current map violated redistricting criteria, she did not expect the judge to change her position. She said she believed the judge would redraw the map, and in the special session, lawmakers had an opportunity to do it themselves.

READ MORE: Federal judges will draw Alabama new districts to increase Black voting power

“Redistricting is hard. I’m not going to tell you this is easy,” said Murrill, who replaced Landry. “I think that you did the best job you could before. The court’s have told us to draw a new map, and we have a deadline to do that.”

“They’ve given you some directives that seem to be, to not give you a lot of clear lines for doing your job,” she said.

Some lawmakers disagreed, noting that the task is simple if you follow the law.

“What makes it difficult is when we are choosing not to do what is right, not to do what is fair for all of the citizens that we represent,” Democratic Rep. Candace Newell of New Orleans said.

As the clock ticks away, skepticism is growing that the Legislature can get it all done in a short period of time. The special session, set to end Jan. 23, has 14 items that lawmakers might tackle, including changing elections to a party-only primary system to campaign finance reform.

Previous redistricting efforts took a year to agree on a map that ended up being disputed by Black voters.

As part of the legislative process, a proposal goes through committees for each chamber and then must get separate approvals from the full House and Senate.

“Given the posture of this case and in all the litigation, the tenor that I’m feeling right now just from all sides is that we’re gonna get something done, but I’m always cautiously optimistic because surprises do happen along the way.” said Rep Duplessis, a Democrat who voted for Womack’s proposal. “I don’t suggest that it will be easy, but you also have to remember we’ve been at this now for over two years and I just don’t think there’s any more road left. We’re at the end of the road. There is no more time.”