Federal court blocks Alabama plan for new congressional districts that
could help Republicans
[May 27, 2026]
By KIM CHANDLER and DAVID A. LIEB
Federal judges on Tuesday blocked Alabama’s plan to use a congressional
map that could give Republicans an advantage in a key U.S. House race in
the midterm elections.
A three-judge panel in the state’s long-running redistricting case
issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the state from switching
maps, ruling that the Republican-backed plan “intentionally
discriminated based on race” by including only one Black-majority
district. The judges instead required Alabama to continue using a
court-ordered map in place for the 2024 elections that includes two
districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it.
“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast
their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by
intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges wrote.
The ruling is a setback for Republicans, who want to use a map for the
November midterms that would give the GOP a chance to reclaim the seat
now held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said the state
will immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He contended the
judges had no basis for their decision to block what he described as a
“blandly unobjectionable congressional map.”
“Know this — in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case,
only when,” Marshall said.
Figures said he is pleased with the ruling, adding: “This is a
significant step in the right direction, but there is still a long way
to go before this fight is settled.”
The court order is the latest development in the twisting legal and
political saga following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a
Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting
Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states,
including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large
minority populations that have elected Democrats.
The redistricting frenzy is part of a broader push by President Donald
Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the
November elections.
Alabama court fight stretches back several years
The three-judge panel in 2023 ruled that a map drawn by Republican state
lawmakers intentionally diluted the voting power of Black citizens. The
court said the state, which is about 27% Black, should have two
districts where Black voters are the majority or close to it. The
court-selected map was used in 2024.
After the Supreme Court's recent ruling in the Louisiana case, Alabama
officials moved to implement the 2023 state-drawn map. The Supreme
Court’s conservative majority agreed to lift the injunction that had
blocked the map's use and sent the case back to the three-judge panel
for reconsideration in light of the Louisiana ruling.
In the meantime, voters cast ballots in Alabama's May 11 primaries, and
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey set new special primaries for Aug. 11 in four
congressional districts affected by the map switch.
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Travis Jackson stands outside the federal courthouse on Friday, May
22, 2026, in Birmingham, Ala. after a court hearing related to
redistricting litigation. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
Upon further review, the judicial panel said there was “undisputed
evidence” of intentional racial discrimination. It said the special
congressional primaries should instead proceed under the previous
court-approved districts.
The decision to temporarily block the map switch came after a
seven-hour hearing Friday in which judges sharply questioned state
lawyers about the timeline and the impact of the Louisiana ruling.
Using the same districts that had been in place for the previous
election would prevent “an expensive, aggressive, and perhaps
logistically impossible voter reassignment effort,” the judges
wrote.
“Candidate and voter confusion is troublesome and warrants
significant consideration, but we do not see that a preliminary
injunction will worsen it. To the contrary, we expect a preliminary
injunction to lessen it,” the judges said.
Deuel Ross, director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,
said the court ruling “again vindicated the constitutional rights of
voters in the Black Belt, and our clients look forward to voting
under a fair map this fall.”
Redistricting changes affect primaries in several states
Other states also have considered adjustments to their primary
elections to allow time for congressional redistricting after the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affecting the Voting Rights Act.
Louisiana’s congressional primaries, scheduled for May 16, were
postponed until later this summer by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry so
that state lawmakers could consider a new U.S. House map that would
eliminate a majority-Black district.
In South Carolina, where early voting began Tuesday for its June 9
primaries, the Republican-led Senate rejected a plan that would have
thrown out the votes and instead held a new congressional primary in
August under revised districts that could have improved Republicans’
chances of winning an additional seat.
Tennessee also moved quickly to enact new U.S. House districts after
the Supreme Court’s ruling, carving up a Black-majority district
based in Memphis that had elected the state’s only Democratic
representative. The new map gives Republicans a chance to sweep all
nine of the state’s seats. As part of the plan, Tennessee
temporarily reopened the candidate qualifying period for its August
congressional primaries, allowing new candidates to enter the race
and existing ones to either switch districts or drop out.
Since Trump first urged Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts
last summer, about a half-dozen Republican-led states have enacted
new voting districts, though some still face legal challenges.
Democrats countered with new districts in California and also expect
to gain a seat from new court-imposed districts in Utah.
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