Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map Thursday, May 29, 2026, that would dismantle one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts — a move that came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the existing map unconstitutional.
The high court’s ruling forced lawmakers back to the drawing board. Rather than preserve both majority-Black seats, Republicans moved quickly to eliminate one of them.
The Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court found Louisiana’s current congressional map unconstitutional in what NPR described as a sweeping ruling. The decision put pressure on the Republican-controlled statehouse to redraw district lines — and GOP lawmakers responded by cutting the number of majority-Black districts from two to one.
It’s a sharp turn. Civil rights advocates and voting rights groups had fought for years to secure a second majority-Black seat in Louisiana, arguing the state’s Black population — which makes up a substantial share of Louisiana residents — deserved stronger representation in Congress. The court’s ruling had, at least briefly, appeared to shore up that second seat.
Instead, the new map Republicans passed would undo that arrangement entirely.
Whether the revised map will survive a legal challenge isn’t clear. Courts have repeatedly weighed in on Louisiana’s district lines over the past several years, and voting rights litigation in the state hasn’t shown signs of slowing. The full legal and political consequences of Thursday’s vote have yet to play out.
Reported by NPR. Read the original report.
