Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana map as 'racial gerrymander'

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]All right, right now breaking news in Washington. The Supreme Court has struck down Louisiana's second majority black congressional district in a decision that could boost Republicans balance of power in Congress. The high court finding that the Louisiana redistricting relied too heavily on race and snaked districts to create districts favorable for Democrats. The decision weakens a landmark voting rights law protection against discrimination in redistricting.

[00:00:29]The court heard this case for a second time in October and it's not clear whether the decision was issued early enough for some states, including Louisiana, to consider a new round of redistricting ahead of the midterms in which Republicans are trying to preserve a thin majority. Several states right now are in the spotlight because of redistricting. Florida, for example, set to vote on a new proposed map here soon.

[00:00:53]That could give Republicans more control on the national level. NewsNation's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Mike Viquera joins us. So, this this decision from the high court, Mike, and good morning to you, as always. Um what are the merits of this case going into it?

[00:01:06]What were the arguments for for each side?

[00:01:10]Well, um I'm Marney and I think you encapsulated the the the entire magnitude of this case very well. And it does have major implications for who controls the House of Representatives, which party controls the House of Representatives, and perhaps just as importantly, minority represent representation in the House of Representatives, in particular, African-American black American representation in the House of Representatives. Uh the Supreme Court appears to have reached some sort of compromise here. You referenced the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It is a landmark decision signed by President Lyndon Johnson that essentially said uh African-Americans are underrepresented in the House of Repres- in the House of Representatives. For almost a century, there were essentially zero black Americans in the House of Representatives. After the 1965 law, which mandated that there should be essentially majority-minority districts throughout the South uh that would allow more African-Americans to be elected and sent to Washington. Since then, as of right now, there are 63 of those districts, 62 members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Congress.

[00:02:18]Now, in Louisiana, uh they cited the uh Section 2 of the Supreme of the uh Voting Rights Act, which incidentally Supreme Court has now let stand, and that's the compromise here. Uh but they looked at that district in particular and said it uh it it violates uh the gerrymandering principles. In other words, it is so convoluted, so distorted, this district, in an effort to draw that second majority-minority uh black district in Louisiana, uh that it is uh that it violates the law. Uh and they're striking down the Louisiana map.

[00:02:48]So, what does this mean for implications uh for November and the midterm elections? That's the key question here because, Marney, as you pointed out, there are so many states that have already had their primaries. The process is moving forward. Relatively few states uh we've heard about the gerrymandering fights in Virginia, in Texas, in California, upcoming in Florida. There's been one in Ohio, as well. Uh unclear whether or not it is too late to go back, redraw these maps, and redo these election districts. And that's the essential argument here in the short term. In the long term, it's a very fundamental argument about repres- minority representation in Congress, the effects of the Voting Rights Act, uh gerrymandering uh through uh throughout many of these states. We've already seen it happening, and there's there's no question of what it's what's happening here because there the the proponents of these new districts are openly pushing the the reason why they're drawing these new districts. So, really a monumental uh decision here today by the Supreme Court that could have implications in the short term for representation and control of the House of Representatives over President Trump's last 2 years, uh and also the long term for minority representation, particularly in Southern states, uh here in Washington. Thank you for watching. Subscribe below and download our NewsNation app right now on your phone, and you will get fact-based unbiased news for all Americans.