Louisiana’s Republican governor plans to delay the May 16 congressional primaries following the Supreme Court ruling that threw out the state’s racially gerrymandered districts.
Gov. Jeff Landry told House GOP lawmakers he will delay the primaries for the state’s six U.S. House seats to give the Louisiana legislature time to redraw the congressional map.
The governor said the state is prohibited from carrying out congressional elections under the state’s current map.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday voted 6-3 to limit the scope of the Voting Rights Act in determining congressional district lines. The ruling strikes down Louisiana’s current congressional map, which includes two majority-Black districts.
“Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the state,” Mr. Landry and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. “The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the state’s enforcement of the current congressional map. By the court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the state is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the legislature and the secretary of state’s office to develop a path forward.”
Absentee voting in Louisiana’s now-questionable May 16 primary has already begun, and early voting was to start later this week.
Other states may follow Louisiana’s scramble to redraw congressional districts following the Supreme Court ruling.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican running for governor of Tennessee, called on her state’s legislature to ditch its current map, with a 7-2 Republican advantage, and go for one that would produce an 8-1 split by redrawing a seat in the Memphis area.
Republicans in Alabama are also calling for a new map. The state’s congressional district lines give the Republicans a 6-2 advantage but could be rewritten to make that 7-1 now that a court-ordered Black majority district is no longer required.
In South Carolina, Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican seeking the state’s governorship, called for new lines to redraw a majority Black district held by a Democrat.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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