(The Center Square) — Louisiana lawmakers will head to Baton Rouge for a special session on Monday to redraw the state’s congressional and Supreme Court districts and consider other election matters.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called the special session for Jan. 15 just hours after officially taking office, issuing a 14-item proclamation that includes consideration of a closed primary and revisions to campaign finance laws and fees for candidates.
“The courts have mandated that the state of Louisiana redraw our congressional districts,” Landry said in a statement. “Redistricting is a state legislative function. That is why today, I followed the court order and made the call to convene the Legislature of Louisiana into a special session on redistricting.”
The proclamation gives lawmakers until Jan. 23 to redraw congressional districts and create a second majority Black district following a November decision by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
That decision upheld a ruling from Baton Rouge-based U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick that agreed with arguments from civil rights groups that the congressional map used in November violates the Voting Rights Act. That map includes a majority of white voters in five out of six of the state’s congressional districts. The state’s Black residents account for roughly a third of the population.
Democrats have argued the current map dilutes Black voting power, while Republicans contend the Black population is not geographically compact enough to craft a second Black majority district.
The courts imposed a deadline of Jan. 30 for lawmakers to rework the map to include a second Black-majority district. If that happens, plaintiffs can either accept the map or allow the court to determine if it complies with the Voting Rights Act. If lawmakers don’t produce a new map, a trial would ensure that could result in a new map crafted by the court without the influence of the Legislature.
Political observers suggest Monroe Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’s 5th District, a safe Republican seat, could shift to favor Democrats under a new map.
Lawmakers approved the current congressional map in February 2022, and Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed the legislation on March 9, 2022. Lawmakers then voted 27-11 along party lines in the Senate, and 72-32 with support from one Democrat in the House, on March 30, 2022 to override Edwards’ veto. That vote marked just the third time since 1973 that the Legislature had successfully voted to override a gubernatorial veto.
Lawmakers next week will also consider new districts for the Louisiana Supreme Court following a request from justices in December that noted districts have went unchanged for 25 years. Justices want lawmakers to add a second majority-Black district among seven seats on the high court, a change Landry reportedly supports.
Other items in Landry’s proclamation task lawmakers with considering campaign qualifying fees for presidential and congressional elections, as well as “the creation of a party primary system for elections.”
Louisiana is the only state with a “jungle primary” that includes all candidates regardless of party, with the top two moving to the general election if one does not secure a majority of votes. The other states including California, Nebraska, Washington, and Alaska use a similar system that does not allow candidates to win outright in the primary.
The party primary system would restrict primaries by party, with the top Republican and Democratic candidates squaring off in the general election.
