With the most recent congressional map containing two majority-Black districts facing litigation from 12 plaintiffs, who identify as non-Black voters, NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Jared Evans believes it or a previous map they endorsed in Fall 2021 will be used for the 2024 election. He said the Secretary of State wants a map in place by the end of May.
“There’s not a whole lot of time to litigate a whole new case. So, I ultimately see us still having, even if it’s not the current map that was passed, but a map of two Black districts in place for 2024,” said Evans.
Evans said the map passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and endorsed by Governor Jeff Landry in January, reflects the political priorities of securing re-elections for Congresswoman Julia Letlow, Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
“That map reflects those priorities, when you center politics, it creates other potential challenges down the road. I ultimately see this being resolved with a map then being in place for 2024 with two majority-Black districts,” said Evans.
The map that was introduced in September 2021 with two majority-Black districts, District 2, which is Congressman Troy Carter’s, had District 5 as the second majority-minority district. Evans said it reflected the re-districting principles of compactness and communities of interests together.
“That map is the one that we organized around for so long and put so much effort into because we felt it was a map that had the best potential and greater success for some sustaining and surviving challenges down the road,” said Evans.
As for which map will be the final map, remains to be seen, Evans said the courts have previously stated redistricting is the sole responsibility of the legislature, it is only in the most extreme circumstances that a court will step in and draw a map.
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