Overview
- The state Legislature voted to approve the map on Friday, May 29, with the Senate concurring 28–10 in a largely party-line vote and the bill now sent to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry for expected signature.
- The map dismantles one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black districts by reshaping Rep. Cleo Fields’ seat into a more Republican-leaning district while keeping Rep. Troy Carter’s New Orleans–Baton Rouge district as the state’s sole majority-Black seat.
- Lawmakers say the redraw responds to the U.S. Supreme Court’s late‑April Louisiana v. Callais decision that struck down the 2024 map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and narrowed Section 2 protections of the Voting Rights Act.
- Plaintiffs from the Callais litigation have filed a new federal suit seeking a court order on when the new map must take effect, and voting rights groups including the ACLU have signaled further legal challenges.
- The change forces a compressed election calendar—Governor Landry postponed the May primary and moved U.S. House races to Nov. 3 with runoffs in December—and could alter both local representation and the national balance of the U.S. House if courts allow the map to stand.