Supreme Court clears way for Louisiana congressional map with two Black districts

The Supreme Court has ordered that Louisiana's Nov. 5 congressional elections be conducted using a map that creates a second majority Black district likely to benefit Democrats that takes in Shreveport.

Wednesday's ruling would seem to clear the way for the election using boundaries drawn by the Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry in January despite a federal three-judge panel ruling that the map is unconstitutional becaue of an "impermissible racial gerrymander."

Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and civil rights groups led by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund asked the Supreme Court to allow the overturned map to be used after the state's chief elections officer Nancy Landry said she needed boundaries to be in place by May 15.

“The Secretary of State (Nancy Landry) has consistently stated she needed a map by May 15," Murrill said in a statement. "The plaintiffs did not contest it at trial. We will continue to defend the law and are grateful the Supreme Court granted the stay which will ensure we have a stable election season.”

"After three full years of advocacy and two complete years of intense litigation, we finally know what the congressional map will look like this fall," said Jared Evans, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "After all of the back-and-forth between two district courts, the 5th Circuit and the Supreme Court and multiple extraordinary redistricting sessions, Louisiana will finally have a fair and equitable map that allows Black voters to elect their preferred candidate and two out of Louisiana's six districts this fall."

Those who challenged the map and won the lower court decision condemned the Supreme Court ruling and said they will appeal.

"The state of Louisiana enacted a brutal racial gerrymander that segregates its voters based on their race," said plaintiffs' attorneys Edward Greim and Paul Hurd in a statement to USA Today Network. "Louisiana politicians passed the law at the last minute, lost in court and then cynically ran out the clock on a replacement map. As a result, their constituents may well vote in November 2024 districts segregated by race. We are confident, however, that the Callais plaintiffs will ultimately prevail on appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court."

The Supreme Court's decision impacts the political careers of the incumbents and scope of representation for the state's Black voters in Louisiana, which has six members of the House.

The map puts Republican U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, the current 6th District congressman, in peril by dismantling his boundaries in favor of a majority Black voter population.

Those new 6th Congressional District boundaries stretch from Baton Rouge to Lafayette to Alexandria to Shreveport.

Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields has already announced he will run for the 6th District seat.

More: BREAKING: In Louisiana, Federal judges order Legislature to draw new congressional map

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Supreme Court clears way for Louisiana congressional map with two Black districts