Majority Black District Not Settled

When it seemed that African American voters had been awarded a second majority congressional voting district, this reporter said that the war was not over; it was only beginning. A lawsuit recently filed by non-African American voters against a map outlining the new Black district was rejected by a three-judge federal panel. The panel cited agreement with the group that filed the lawsuit, stating the map amounted to "constitutional racial gerrymandering" that discriminated against White voters represented in Congress by Garrett Graves. Now, it appears that legislators are back to square one, tasked with creating a map that will meet legal muster by a May 15 deadline imposed by Louisiana. This map must comply so voters can participate in the 2024 Fall elections. If the rejected map had remained in force, there was a possibility that Graves could lose his seat to a Black opponent in the newly created majority Black district. This would have given Louisiana four majority-White districts instead of five while protecting its most senior representatives, Steve Scalise, Julia Letlow, and Mike Johnson. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry was in favor of the map that might have ousted Graves because Graves had supported a rival against Landry in the governor's race, suggesting that the new map was more about politics than race. The U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately have to settle the matter