Redistricting battle intensifies in states after US Supreme Court ruling
on Voting Rights Act
[May 02, 2026]
By DAVID A. LIEB
A Supreme Court decision striking down a majority Black congressional
district in Louisiana has amplified an already intense national
redistricting battle by providing Republican officials in several states
new grounds to redraw voting districts.
In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced Friday that she is
calling a special legislative session to begin Monday in hopes that the
Supreme Court allows the state to change its U.S. House map ahead of the
November midterm elections. In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also
announced a special session for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break
up the state's one Democratic-held House district, centered on the
majority-Black city of Memphis.
Louisiana already has suspended its May 16 congressional primary to
allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts, though
that is being challenged in court. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is
pressuring other states such as Tennessee to also redistrict ahead of
the midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain
control of the closely divided House.
Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts
to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by
doing the same. Then other states joined the battle. Lawmakers,
commissions or courts have adopted new House districts in eight states.
That total could grow following the Supreme Court’s decision that
significantly weakened a provision in the federal Voting Rights Act.
Here’s a look at how some states are responding to the Supreme Court
ruling:
Louisiana
Current House map: two Democrats, four Republicans
Early in-person voting was to begin Saturday for Louisiana’s primaries.
But Republican Gov. Jeff Landry moved quickly Thursday to postpone the
congressional primary while allowing elections for other offices to go
forward.
A federal lawsuit filed later Thursday, on behalf of a Democratic
congressional candidate and voter, asked a court to block Landry’s order
and allow the House primary to occur as originally scheduled. Two more
lawsuits asserting that the congressional primary should go forward were
filed Friday in state court on behalf of voters who already had cast
absentee ballots and several civil rights organizations.
Among other things, the lawsuits contend that Landry lacked authority to
suspend the primary and that thousands of absentee ballots already have
been mailed to people, with a substantial number filled out and
returned.
District court judges in Baton Rouge late Friday denied requests in two
of those cases to temporarily block Landry’s executive order.
Separately, a three-judge federal court panel that heard the case that
was appealed to the Supreme Court also issued an order Thursday
suspending Louisiana’s congressional primary.
Republican state House and Senate leaders said they are prepared to pass
new U.S. House districts — and set a new primary election date — before
their legislative session ends in a month.
Alabama
Current House map: two Democrats, five Republicans
The state’s primaries are set for May 19. But Alabama officials on
Thursday filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court seeking an
expedited review of a pending appeal in a redistricting case that could
affect the election.
A federal court in 2023 ordered the creation of a new near
majority-Black district in Alabama, resulting in the election of a
second Black representative to the U.S. House. Alabama is under a court
order to use the new map until after the next census in 2030.
An appeal pending before the Supreme Court argues that the map is an
illegal racial gerrymander, a claim similar to that made in Louisiana.
The state is seeking to lift an injunction blocking the use of a 2023
map drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature that did not include
the new district. The state is making a similar request for two state
Senate districts impacted by a separate redistricting case.
Ivey said the special legislative session will focus on a contingency
plan to have special primary elections in case the Supreme Court acts
quickly enough to allow Alabama’s previously drawn districts to be used
this year.
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The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Friday, April 3, 2026.
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
Florida
Current House map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans
Hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, Florida’s Republican-led
Legislature approved new U.S. House districts that could help the GOP
win up to four additional seats in November.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session
without knowing when the Supreme Court would issue its opinion in the
Louisiana case. But DeSantis expressed confidence that the court would
rule as it did. Among other things, the new map reshapes a southeastern
Florida district that DeSantis said was created to help elect a Black
representative in an attempt to comply with the federal Voting Rights
Act.
A Florida constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2010 prohibits
districts from being drawn to deny or diminish the ability of racial or
language minorities to elect the representatives of their choice.
DeSantis said he considers that amendment a violation of the U.S.
Constitution. That question is expected to be decided by the courts.
Tennessee
Lee announced the special session in a statement late Friday afternoon,
saying, “We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts
accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters.”
That came after a pressure campaign by Trump and other Republicans to
reconfigure the state's 9th Congressional District. Republicans have
always been checkmated by the Voting Rights Act in their desire to
spread the district's Democratic voters around neighboring conservative
districts and make it winnable, but the law may no longer be an
impediment.
The candidate qualifying period ended in March, and the primary election
is scheduled for Aug. 6. Democrats noted that in 2022 the state supreme
court checked additional redistricting because it was too close to an
election. They argued that the court is their best hope this time around
too.
“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a
democracy, Democratic State Sen. Ramesh Akbari said at a news conference
outside the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, which includes the structure
of the motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in
1968.
Mississippi
Current House map: one Democrat, three Republicans
Mississippi held its U.S. House primaries in March. But the Supreme
Court’s decision could affect elections for other offices.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves announced previously that he would call a
special legislative session to redraw voting districts for the state
Supreme Court that would begin 21 days after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in the Louisiana case. That would put the special session's start
at around May 20.
A federal judge last year ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme
Court voting districts after finding that they violated the Voting
Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. Mississippi lawmakers
had been waiting on a decision in the Louisiana case before moving
forward, but their legislative session ended in April.
Reeves said in his proclamation that the Supreme Court’s decision would
provide guidance to lawmakers on whether “race-conscious redistricting”
violates the U.S. Constitution.
Georgia
Current House map: five Democrats, nine Republicans
Early in-person voting began April 27 and continues for the next few
weeks ahead of Georgia’s primary elections on May 19.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said it’s too late for Georgia officials to
try to change congressional districts for this year’s elections, because
voting already is underway. But he said the rationale in the Supreme
Court’s decision “requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before
the 2028 election cycle.”
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Associated Press writers Jeff Amy, Jack Brook, Travis Loller, Nicholas
Riccardi and Kim Chandler contributed to this report.
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