Advocates ask Supreme Court to back Louisiana’s new mostly Black House district

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Voting rights advocates filed an emergency motion Wednesday asking the Supreme Court to keep a new Louisiana congressional map in place for this year’s elections that gives the state a second majority Black district.

A divided panel of federal judges in western Louisiana ruled April 30 that the new map, passed by lawmakers in January, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Wednesday’s Supreme Court filing seeks to block that ruling, keeping the new districts in place while appeals continue.

Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney Gen. Liz Murrill, both Republicans, back the new map. Murrill said she also planned to ask the high court to keep it in place.

Voting patterns show a new mostly Black district would give Democrats the chance to capture another House seat. The new map converted District 6, represented by Republican Rep. Garret Graves. Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields, a former congressman who is Black, had said he would run for the seat.

Supporters of the new district, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, say the lower court decision effectively means Louisiana has no congressional map in place for the fall election, and no realistic chance for the Legislature to adopt one in time.

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