Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has stopped the May 16 congressional primaries from going ahead after the Supreme Court struck down the Pelican State’s House map Wednesday.
“The State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward,” Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a joint statement Thursday.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Louisiana had unlawfully discriminated by race when it created a second majority-black congressional district in response to a federal judge’s 2022 order.
Following Wednesday’s ruling, Landry called congressional candidates and told them that primaries would most likely be rescheduled, according to Misti Cordell, a Republican running to fill Rep. Julia Letlow’s vacated seat.
“It’s an inconvenience for a candidate for sure, but you know they want to do it right versus having to go through all this again,” Cordell told the Associated Press, adding that she appreciated the heads-up before candidates began “spending their war chest” in the run-up to the Nov. 3 general election.
Early voting in the state’s primaries had been scheduled to begin Saturday, while absentee balloting was already underway.
It was unclear whether Landry and Murrill’s announcement would affect primaries for statewide office, including one of the state’s two US Senate seats.
The high court’s ruling, seen as a victory for Republicans, weakened a key provision in the Voting Rights Act and could lead to other Southern states redrawing their congressional maps ahead of November’s midterm election.
Some Democrats protested the move by Landry and Murrill, with state Sen. Royce Duplessis warning that “this is going to cause mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, white, black, everybody.
“What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game,” added Duplessis. “It’s rigging the system.”
Louisiana’s House delegation currently consists of four Republicans and two Democrats — both of which were elected from the two majority-black districts drawn ahead of the 2024 elections.
Under the map put in place after the 2020 census, the state sent five Republicans and one Democrat to DC.
With Post wires
