LOUISIANA, USA — Wednesday afternoon during a special session, the senate passed a map drawn up by Governor Jeff Landry.
It would create a second majority-Black district out of the seat currently held by Garret Graves.
That district stretches diagonally from the Baton Rouge area, through Alexandria, and up toward Shreveport.
This version of the map protects Congresswoman Julia Letlow’s seat, but neither Democrats nor Republicans are totally happy with it.
At the heart of the issue is this: Louisiana’s population is one-third Black. But only one of the state’s congressional districts has a majority-Black population, which the Supreme Court ruled violates the Voting Rights Act.
Most republicans didn’t want to redraw the maps at all, but many democrats believe this map doesn’t do enough. It’s taken years of legal battles and a Supreme Court ruling to get here.
Louisiana legislators finally faced two options: draw the maps with a second Black district, or a judge would do it for them.
The senate’s version of the map now goes up for debate in the House, which has its own version of a new congressional map passed in committee.
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