Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Louisiana suspended its congressional primaries on Thursday as early voting approached, while pressure mounted on Republican officials in other states to redraw U.S. House maps in light of a Supreme Court ruling that dramatically weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Early voting was scheduled to begin Saturday for Louisiana’s May 16 primary. But Republican Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order postponing the U.S. House primary in response to a court ruling Wednesday invalidating a majority-black congressional district.
“Allowing elections to be held under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters,” Landry said. “This executive order ensures that we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and legal congressional map.”
The Republican-controlled Secretary of State’s Office, which declared an election emergency to allow Landry’s order, said it would post notices at early voting sites alerting the public about the pending congressional primaries. All other races will continue on the ballot as scheduled.
The Supreme Court’s decision and Landry’s move sparked a wave of legal action to follow. On Thursday night, a three-judge federal appeals court panel that heard the initial case appealed to the Supreme Court issued a summary order suspending Louisiana’s House elections until new maps are drawn — a move some legal experts said was premature. Mark Elias, a prominent Democratic election lawyer, announced a lawsuit challenging Landry’s order.
The governor’s order postponed the congressional primaries until July 15 or a date set by the Legislature. The state’s Republican House and Senate leaders said they were ready to pass new congressional voting districts — and set a new election date — before their regular session ends in a month.
President Donald Trump used his social media platform to praise Bandre, who is also a relative Special Envoy to Greenlandto move quickly to review the state’s congressional districts. He also urged Tennessee Republicans to do the same in response to the Supreme Court’s decision.
While civil rights activists denounced the possibility of this happening – Reduced representation of minorities In Congress, top Republicans cited the Supreme Court’s decision as justification for sparking already intense protests The national redistricting battle between states before the November elections.
“I think all states that have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully, and I think they should do that before the midterm elections,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters in Washington.
Some Democrats have denounced the suspension of elections in Louisiana.
“This is going to cause mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, whites, blacks, everyone,” said Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents the New Orleans area. “What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game. It’s gaming the system.”
Postponing elections is unusual but not unprecedented.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, several states postponed elections due to health concerns. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was leading Louisiana at the time, postponed the state’s April 4 presidential primary three weeks before it was supposed to take place — then delayed it again until July 11.
The state of Louisiana is currently represented in the US House of Representatives by four Republicans and two Democrats. The revised map could give Republicans a chance to pick up at least one additional seat in the November midterm elections — adding to Republican gains elsewhere from redistricting.
Voting districts are usually redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump last year Urging Republicans in Texas To redraw House districts to give the Republican Party an advantage in the midterm elections. Democrats in California responded in kind, and redistricting efforts quickly rolled across the states.
Wednesday, Florida lawmakers are the latest To redraw US House districts, and adopt a new map supported by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, which could give the Republican Party a chance to win several additional seats.
The vote in Florida came just hours after the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that significantly weakened protections for minorities under the federal Voting Rights Act. The court said Louisiana officials relied too heavily on race when drawing the congressional district he represented Democrat Cleo Fields.
Trump said he wants Tennessee to undertake redistricting in response to the court ruling. The president posted on social media that he spoke with the state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, who said he would work hard to develop a new map that could help Republicans gain an additional seat. Democrats currently hold only one of the state’s nine House seats, a district centered on the majority black city of Memphis.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, said he was in talks with the White House and others as they reviewed the court’s decision.
After the 2020 census, Louisiana officials drew House voting district boundaries It maintained a majority black district Five districts are mostly white, in a state whose population is about a third black. A federal judge later Hit the map For violating the Voting Rights Act.
The following year, The Supreme Court found that That Alabama should create a second congressional district that would favor black voters.
Federal judges permanently blocked Alabama from using a congressional map drawn by state lawmakers and ordered the use of a plan that would add a second district with a large number of black voters.
On Thursday, the state of Alabama filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court seeking expedited review of its appeal. The state is seeking to lift the injunction blocking the use of the 2023 map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature that did not include the new district.
The Louisiana Legislature and its Governor Adopt the new house map in 2024, creating a second black-majority district. But this map was later challenged in court, leading to the recent Supreme Court ruling.
After the ruling, Landry called U.S. House candidates on Wednesday and told them the primary would likely stop, according to Misty Cordell, a Republican who is in a crowded race to fill U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’s vacant seat.
“It’s definitely upsetting for the candidate, but you know they want to do it right instead of having to go through all of this again,” Cordell said. She added that she appreciated the heads-up before she and the other candidates began “spending their war money” during the final weeks leading up to Election Day.
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Brock reported from New Orleans and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. AP reporter Travis Lawler contributed from Nashville.