GOP Fast-Tracks New Voting Maps After Landmark Supreme Court Ruling | National News

The redistricting battle is intensifying after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to strike down Louisiana’s congressional map last week, giving a leg up to Republicans who argued the lines of the state’s 6th district were an unconstitutional gerrymander. The court found the district’s lines relied too heavily on race, dealing a major blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Then, on Monday, the court agreed to allow the Louisiana v. Callais ruling to take immediate effect, bypassing the typical 32-day wait period.

As a result, numerous Republican-led states have already begun the process of redrawing their maps to break up Democratic-leaning districts with hopes of holding onto their slim House majority in the midterm elections. Democrats are promising to counter with redistricting of their own before the 2028 federal election.

These states responded to the court decision by making redistricting announcements.

In the state where the fight began, Republican lawmakers signaled they would begin redrawing Louisiana’s voting map as soon as Friday, The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate reports. The move comes after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the state’s congressional primary, calling a state “emergency” and citing the Supreme Court’s ruling. Voting rights groups sued the governor, accusing him of “trying to change” an ongoing election and lacking evidence for a state of emergency.

State Democrats promised to oppose any map with less than two Black-majority districts, although Republicans have the supermajority in both the Louisiana House and Senate. The results may end up cutting one, or both Black-majority Democrat-led districts from the state’s six U.S. House seats. “It might be 6-0, it might be 5-1,” Republican state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter told NOLA.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new map into law on Monday, adding four new seats that would lean Republican, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The map has sparked lawsuits calling the move a violation of the Florida Fair Districts Amendment, which prohibits partisan gerrymandering. DeSantis defended the move, claiming the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowed the maps. If deemed legal, Florida’s new map would be one of the first post-Callais redistricting changes.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey called a special legislative session this week to attempt to draw new congressional districts ahead of the November midterms, PBS reports. While approval to adopt new maps is subject to Supreme Court reviewRepublican lawmakers hope redistricting would give them control of all seven of the state’s congressional districts. Democrats currently hold two of the state’s seats. The move would affect nearly half of the state’s population and target two districts that are represented by Black lawmakers, Al.com reports.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee also called legislators into a special session in an effort to redraw lines and potentially eliminate Tennessee’s one Democratic-led district, PBS reports. The Voting Rights Act had previously prevented Republicans from spreading out the mostly Democratic voters from the 9th district, but after the ruling it may be possible. Tennessee Democrats criticized the move as discriminatory, the Tennessee Lookout reports. “This is obviously about race,” Rep. Sam McKenzie said on Monday. “It’s about taking one county that has a majority African-American community and decimating it.”

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves announced he would call a special session on May 20th to redraw the state’s judicial maps, the New York Times reports.

Republican-led Texas and Democratic-led California had already implemented changes to their voting maps before the Supreme Court’s decision, but as President Donald Trump pushes for more redistricting, the race to find more seats could grow more hectic.

Politico reports that Democrats are also eyeing seat changes before the 2028 federal election in states like New York, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington and Oregon.