Supreme Court orders Louisiana to use Congressional map with two Black districts

The Congressional map with two Black majority districts will be the map used for this fall’s federal election. That’s the result of a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that blocks a previous ruling by a panel of three federal judges that said the map approved by lawmakers this year was illegal because it was driven too much by race. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says the state finally has closure.

“All the uncertainty has certainly been removed, finally,” said Pinsonat. “What the Supreme Court did was tell us that the map approved earlier this year with two Congressional Black districts is the map we’ll be using.”

The ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court means the current sixth Congressional district occupied by Republican Garret Graves has a political boundary that favors a minority to win. But Pinsonat says Graves will not go down without a fight, adding, “it [the district]’s set up for a Black to be elected using the numbers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean voters. So he’s at a disadvantage, but that’s certainly not going to dissuade him. I think he’ll certainly run.”

Black Democrat Cleo Fields, a state senator from Baton Rouge, plans to challenge Graves if he runs for re-election in the sixth district. The order from the Supreme Court came on the day Secretary of State Nancy Landry said she needed a finalized map to adequately prepare for the fall election, which Attorney General Liz Murrill says plaintiffs “did not contest” during the trial. Pinsonat says the map that will be used stretches the Sixth Congressional District from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, despite concerns this is racial gerrymandering.

“The Supreme Court is the final word and the election will be held this fall. Nancy Landry has no choice but to use those maps that have been ruled [on] by the Supreme Court. All of the legal haggling is over,” said Pinsonat.

In a statemet, Murrill said the state government is “…grateful the Supreme Court granted the stay which will ensure we have a stable election season,” and that Louisiana will “continue to defend the law.”