Southern States Redraw Maps After Court Limits Racial Districts

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais narrowed the reach of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, freeing states to redraw congressional lines without creating additional majority-Black districts. Southern Republican-led legislatures moved quickly to hold special sessions, producing maps that reduce the number of districts where Black voters form a majority. The changes affect control of as many as five House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms and set up new legal challenges over whether the lines now comply with the Equal Protection Clause.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is expected to call a special session after the regular session ends. Five Republican senators had joined Democrats to block an earlier procedural vote, but a simple majority will suffice in the special session. The target is the sole remaining Black-majority district, currently held by Representative Jim Clyburn. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has already scheduled an August 11 primary for four districts after the Supreme Court vacated a lower-court order that had required two majority-Black districts. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp set a June 17 special session to adjust maps for the 2028 cycle, leaving the 2026 primaries under existing lines.

Louisiana and Tennessee completed new maps within days of the Callais decision. Louisiana’s Senate advanced a proposal that would give Republicans five of six seats while preserving one Black-majority district in New Orleans. Tennessee’s map splits the Memphis area across three districts, producing a 9-0 Republican delegation. Both face immediate lawsuits from civil-rights groups. Mississippi’s governor canceled a judicial-redistricting session but signaled congressional changes before 2027.

The central legal question left unresolved is whether maps drawn predominantly to maximize partisan advantage, even if they reduce minority opportunity districts, now satisfy the Constitution’s prohibition on racial gerrymandering. Lower courts must apply the new standard before the next election cycle begins.