A bombshell Supreme Court ruling is triggering a nationwide redistricting scramble, and it could reshape the balance of power in Congress after the November election.
On April 29th, the Supreme Court struck down a racially gerrymandered congressional district in Louisiana, ruling that the Voting Rights Act cannot be used to force states to add more minority districts to their maps unless there is clear evidence of racial discrimination. Republican-led states are suddenly racing to redraw their maps, and Democrats are vowing to fight back just as hard.
I’m Susan Ferrechio, national politics reporter for The Washington Times. Let’s break down what’s happening state by state.
Alabama
In Alabama, lawmakers called a special session this week to consider reverting to the 2023 congressional district lines drawn by the Republican legislature. The proposed map would reshape a district held by Representative Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat, and it could eliminate another Democrat-leaning district held by Representative Terri Sewell. There is a catch, though. Alabama is currently under a court injunction that prohibits it from redrawing its map until 2030.
The state’s attorney general has filed an emergency motion asking the Supreme Court to lift the injunction, arguing it can no longer stand in light of the new ruling. In the meantime, Alabama’s May 19th congressional primary moves forward while they wait for the Supreme Court to weigh in.
Louisiana
In Louisiana, Republican Governor Jeff Landry suspended the state’s ongoing congressional primary in order to give the GOP-led legislature time to redraw the districts originally created to ensure minority representation in Congress.
Tennessee
In Tennessee, the state legislature convenes this week to consider redrawn district lines that would eliminate the state’s only remaining Democrat-leaning congressional district. Governor Bill Lee framed the move as a matter of accurate representation, saying, “We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters.”
New York
And then there’s New York, where Democrats are going on offense. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Monday that he’s directed Representative Joseph Morelle to meet with state leaders to discuss redrawing New York’s congressional map. Democrats currently hold 16 of New York’s House seats to Republicans’ 10 seats, and they’re looking to extend that lead. But they face real legal hurdles.
State law prohibits mid-decade redistricting, and changing it would require a constitutional amendment passed by two consecutive legislative sessions and approved by voters in a referendum. Jeffries made clear that this was part of a broader Democratic strategy.
This is just the beginning, he said. “Across the nation, we will sue, we will redraw, and we will win.”
Across the country
And that brings us to the bigger picture. What we’re watching started in Texas, where Republicans last year, at the urging of President Trump, approved a new map creating five GOP-leaning districts.
California responded with a gerrymandered map of its own that created five new Democratic-leaning seats.
Other states also joined the redistricting push, most recently in Florida, where the Republican-led legislature voted to redraw several districts, adding four more Republican-friendly seats. Florida took action after Democrat-led redistricting efforts in Virginia, which created four districts likely to elect Democrats.
Republicans say the Supreme Court’s ruling is about fairness and the rule of law. Democrats say it’s an attack on Black voter representation and a deliberate attempt to “rig” the elections.
Both sides are moving fast. And with primaries already underway in some states, time’s running out.
The maps being drawn right now could define the political landscape for the rest of the decade, and this fight is just getting started.
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