The House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees approved new Congressional district maps similar to the current one, which means just one majority-minority district. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt says based on the 2020 Census data she doesn’t believe a second majority-Black district can be drawn.
“That is sufficiently compact and would perform as a minority district without greatly diminishing the opportunity to elect a candidate of choice that is currently afforded the voters in District Two,” said Hewitt.
Before Hewitt’s map proposal was approved, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee rejected several other bills that would have created a second-majority minority district. Hewitt says those proposals would actually reduce the chances of a Black candidate can be elected.
“By taking minority voters out of a district that is 56% black VAP (voting age population) today and creating two underperforming districts we would jeopardize the current majority-minority district,” said Hewitt.
House Governmental Affairs also approved a congressional map that does not create a second majority-minority district. The vote was 13-to-5 in favor of House Speaker Clay Schexnayder’s proposal which features one majority-minority district but changes current existing lines to reflect population changes. New Orleans Representative Royce Duplessis voted against it.
“And I just don’t see how we do that Mr. Speaker with all due respect, I don’t see how we do that by not drawing maps that at least have two opportunities of color, black people in particular, to select a candidate of choice,” said Duplessis.
Black lawmakers say two of the six Congressional districts should be majority-minority because 33-percent of the state’s population is African-American.
The full House and Senate will vote on these proposals next week. If lawmakers approve a new Congressional map without a second majority-minority, lawsuits are likely.
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