Advocates say Supreme Court must preserve new, mostly Black US House district for 2024 elections

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Voting rights advocates said Wednesday they will go to the Supreme Court in hopes of preserving a new majority Black congressional district in Louisiana for the fall elections, the latest step in a complicated legal fight that could determine the fate of political careers and the balance of power in the next Congress.

A divided panel of federal judges on Tuesday rejected a map approved in January by an unusual alliance of Republicans, who dominate the Legislature, and Democrats who want a second mostly Black — and mostly Democratic — congressional district.

Republican state Attorney General Liz Murrill said she would appeal Tuesday’s ruling. And a coalition of individuals and civil rights groups filed a formal notice Wednesday saying they would go to the Supreme Court.

Jared Evans, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that by the end of the week advocates will ask the Supreme Court to keep the new maps in place for 2024, pending further legal action. He cited the need to have district maps in place soon. State election officials have said they need to know what maps to use by May 15 for the fall elections.

The same judicial panel that rejected the new map — often referred to by its legislative bill number, SB8 — set a Monday status conference to discuss what the state must do next. Evans said there are numerous options, including the appointment of a special master to draw a map or giving the Legislature another chance. But Evans said time is growing short.

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