Louisiana Legislature Approves New Congressional Map

Louisiana lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a new congressional map that would leave the state with one of its two majority-Black U.S. House districts. The Louisiana Senate passed the measure after hours of debate. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the bill into law.

Background to the Vote The new map follows a U.S.

Supreme Court ruling on April 30 that struck down the state's previous court-ordered map as an illegal racial gerrymander. That earlier map had created two majority-Black districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers postponed the state's U.S. House primary, originally set for May 16, to allow time for the new map to be drawn.

Debate in the Legislature Democratic lawmakers argued the new map still packs Black voters into a single district and could face further legal challenges.

“Y'all, at the beginning of this process, I would have said that we are building a house on a broken foundation. Now, it feels more like quicksand, because we're in 2026 going into a map that we know is flawed, that we know is going to get struck down.”

Republican legislators countered that the map follows traditional redistricting principles and maximizes partisan advantage without using race as a factor.

“I think we have a map here that meets all the traditional redistricting criteria. It's not racially gerrymandered. ... I think it broadly allows for representation for each region of the state, and it's very fair, and we should approve it.”

The Louisiana vote is part of a broader wave of mid-decade redistricting in several Republican-led Southern states following the Supreme Court decision. Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama have also moved to redraw districts, while South Carolina declined to do so.

Republicans currently hold four of the state's six House seats. The new map redraws the district held by Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields and adds part of Baton Rouge to the New Orleans-based district held by Democratic Rep. Troy Carter. Additional lawsuits over the map are expected.