Louisiana lawmakers race to redraw map before Monday

Louisiana lawmakers are working against a deadline to redraw the state's congressional map after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a previous version as an illegal racial gerrymander. The Republican-led state House and Senate are debating competing plans, with both chambers aiming to finalize a new map before the legislative session ends on Monday.

The core issue is how to reconfigure the state's six congressional districts. Both legislative proposals under consideration would eliminate one of the state's two majority-Black districts, a move that has drawn significant criticism. State Representative Beau Beaullieu, while opening debate on Thursday, stated the Republican approach was to draw the map to improve Republican strength. Both plans are also seen as giving Republicans a chance to pick up an additional seat in the upcoming midterm elections.

This marks the state's third attempt at crafting a compliant map since the 2020 census. In 2022, the legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to enact a map that resulted in five Republican and one Democratic representative. Federal courts later ruled that map violated the Voting Rights Act by not including a second majority-Black...