Louisiana GOP eliminates Black-majority district in 2026 gerrymander

Louisiana Republicans have pushed through a mid-decade redistricting plan that eliminates one of the state's two majority-Black congressional districts, replacing it with a Republican-leaning seat. The map, passed by the state Senate after House tweaks, is expected to produce a 5-1 Republican majority—up from the current delegation. The Voting Rights Lab identifies this as part of an emerging trend of mid-decade redistricting, often used to entrench partisan control outside of normal census cycles. The elimination of a majority-Black district directly reduces Black political power in a state where nearly one-third of residents are Black. The Supreme Court's earlier ruling in Allen v. Milligan (2023) required Alabama to draw a second Black-majority district, but Louisiana's map appears to test the limits of that precedent. This is not about fair representation—it's about partisan and racial disenfranchisement under the guise of routine redistricting.