Culture and Social Issues

Louisiana Puts Another Remnant Of Institutionalized Racism Six Feet Under

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Louisiana passed a newly drawn map Friday eliminating institutionalized racism in one of the state’s Democratic-majority districts.

The legislature redrew the majority-black congressional district after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, siding with Louisiana Republicans and President Donald Trump’s administration by blocking an electoral map that created a second majority-black congressional district. The state Senate sent the bill to Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk, who is expected to sign it.

Democratic Louisiana Rep. Cleo Fields’ district has been completely erased in the new map, while Democratic Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter’s district has also been redrawn.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Landry declared a state of emergency and canceled May primary elections across the state in order to pass the map before the midterm elections in November. The House primaries will now take place on Nov. 3, with runoffs stretching into December.

Republican Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins called the map “the worst [he has] seen yet.”

“Wow. I’ve been quiet until now, but… THIS?… what the hell? This map is the worst I’ve seen yet, and I’ve seen many,” Higgins said. “This Frankenstein looking thing was NO DOUBT drawn up by a very small handful of guys in a secret room. NOBODY should support this insanely bad map.   I am 100% opposed to this latest and worst iteration of proposed Louisiana Congressional Districts.”

Wow. I’ve been quiet until now, but…
THIS?… what the hell? This map is the worst I’ve seen yet, and I’ve seen many. This Frankenstein looking thing was NO DOUBT drawn up by a very small handful of guys in a secret room. NOBODY should support this insanely bad map.
I am 100%… pic.twitter.com/ajOMtaJgX4

— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) May 28, 2026

Several states redrew their maps ahead of the midterm elections, including Florida, which could hand Republicans an additional four seats in the House. Tennessee eliminated its only Democrat-majority district on May 7, prompting Democratic Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen to decide against running for re-election.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ redistricting map in an April 27 ruling, which could give Republicans five additional seats in the House of Representatives. Voters in Virginia narrowly approved a referendum that would give Democrats an advantage in ten out of 11 of the state’s congressional districts, though the Virginia Supreme Court deemed the referendum unconstitutional on May 8.

Alabama Republicans planned to use its 2023 congressional map that contained just one Democratic-leaning district in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Louisiana. A federal panel blocked the map in a Tuesday ruling, arguing that the map was intentionally discriminatory against black voters.