Louisiana redistricting begins with protests, tension

(The Center Square) — Louisiana lawmakers heard public testimony Friday on several proposed congressional maps, including one with two majority-Black districts, one with no majority-Black districts and two with only one majority-Black district.The Legislature is expected to vote on the maps next week.Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, told The Center Square that legal challenges are already prepared for any map that does not include two majority-Black districts.The meeting was tense from the start. The committee recessed twice. Two lawmakers got into a shouting match. Protesters filled the hallways, chanting familiar slogans, like “No justice, No peace”.Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, who chairs the committee responsible for redrawing the congressional map, was aware that the hearing could draw strong emotions. A line formed outside the Capitol long before the meeting began. Two older Black men sang “This Little Light of Mine.”Kleinpeter told reporters he was prepared to adjourn the meeting if the audience disrupted the proceedings.“I don’t want to be on national television,” Kleinpeter said, referencing Tennessee, where lawmakers on Thursday approved a Republican-favored congressional map.Protesters inside and outside the Tennessee Capitol tried to shout over the proceedings, prompting House and Senate leaders to pause the process at times, according to The Center Square’s Tennessee bureau.The Louisiana map with two majority-Black districts was authored by Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales. It would create majority-Black districts in the 2nd and 5th congressional districts. The committee spent about an hour hearing testimony on the proposal, including from U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, who represents the 2nd District. The map would not preserve U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields’ current district.“My appeal today is for us to call on the better angels of our nature,” former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson said.Democrats are facing a changed legal landscape after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s current congressional map, which included two majority-Black districts. The ruling opened the door for lawmakers to reduce that number to one, or potentially none. Republican leaders have reportedly been expected to preserve at least one majority-Black district.Marcelle held back tears as she explained why she attended the hearing.“The emotions I’m feeling run deep because of my grandfather,” Marcelle said. “The very things he fought for are being turned around. The protection, people being equal and not separate, all of that’s changing.”“We fought for voting rights, but now we won’t have the opportunity,” Marcelle said. “Louisiana is one-third Black and we deserve two seats in Congress. These maps are unfair, they are egregious, it is an outrage.”After testimony on Price’s two-majority-Black-district map, Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, presented three alternative maps. Two would preserve one majority-Black district. One would create no majority-Black districts.Morris said each proposal takes a different approach and acknowledged the bills could still change.SB 121 would return Louisiana to a map similar to the 2022 congressional plan. Morris said that map had previously been upheld as constitutional, though it was also challenged in court.SB 130 is similar to SB 121 but includes a small change intended to create two complete coastal districts.SB 116 is a placeholder bill that would create a 6-0 map, with no majority-Black districts. Morris said race, party affiliation and voting patterns were not considered in drawing that version. He described it as an attempt to avoid racial considerations while respecting traditional redistricting principles and political boundaries.Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, questioned Morris about the intent behind the proposals, linking them to other legislation Morris has sponsored involving New Orleans courts and clerks of court.“I asked earlier whether or not the people need to be concerned about your legislation,” Carter said, referring to bills that reduced the number of judges in New Orleans and merged two clerks of court. “Now you want to reduce the number of African American congressional representation in Louisiana.”Morris denied that any of his legislation was motivated by race.“I don’t know that we should care that much about race,” Morris said after Carter asked whether he knew how many Black constituents lived in his district.Morris acknowledged that his maps would likely favor Republicans, but said that “doesn’t prevent an African American from winning any one of these seats.”As Carter continued questioning Morris, Kleinpeter called for a recess. Carter objected and demanded that his microphone be turned back on, but the committee recessed anyway.The committee later returned for more public testimony, which overwhelmingly opposed the Republican-backed proposals.