The ās ruling Wednesday that Louisianās is unconstitutional landed just days before voters are set to start casting ballots, raising a dilemma for state leaders: Should they push the elections back and try to draw a new map?
Louisiana is set to vote on May 16 in primary elections for Congress and other offices. Early voting begins Saturday.
Most state leaders said they needed time to process the courtās seismic ruling before deciding what to do.
āI think itās gonna take us at least 24 hours to pore through the opinion to understand what exactly that opinion is telling us,ā Gov. Jeff Landry said Wednesday morning.
āCertainly the Supreme Court said it loud and clear that the current map is unconstitutional,ā he said. āWhat our options are, weāre basically working our way through that, and I will be discussing those options with the attorney general ā Iāve spoken to her twice now ā and with the legislative leadership.ā
The court ruled 6-3 that Louisiana improperly factored race into its decision to draw a second majority-Black district. It sent the case back to a federal district court to address its decision.
Landry said itās up to the Legislature to decide whether to redraw Louisianās six-district congressional map or reduce the number of majority-Democrat districts in ¶¶Ņõh.
āEverything is on the table,ā he said.
āThereās time,ā Murrill says
Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Legislature gets the first shot at drawing a new congressional map and does not have to wait for the district court.
Murrill said the Legislature still has time to redraw the maps for the ongoing 2026 midterm election cycle. Lawmakers could suspend the current primary election dates and āpush them into the future,ā she said.
āTheyāre dates that we set. I think that they can be changed, and the election is not actually until November,ā Murrill said. āSo thereās time if they want to change those dates.ā
State and federal law would not prevent the Legislature from drawing a new map this year, Murrill said. Thatās different from judicial principles that limit a courtās ability to create a new map close to an election, she said.
āIāll be looking to the Legislature to see which direction they want to go,ā she said.
In a joint statement Wednesday morning, ¶¶Ņõh Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, said they were still working to understand the ruling.
āWe are aware of the United States Supreme Courtās ruling today in the ¶¶Ņõh v. Callais case, striking down Louisianās second majority-Black congressional district as unconstitutional and remanding the case back to the United States District Court for the Western District of ¶¶Ņõh,ā the statement says.
Henry and DeVillier added: āWe are reviewing that ruling and meeting with our members, representatives from the executive branch, elections officials and counsel to determine next steps to be taken in the best interests of ¶¶Ņõh voters and our state.ā
New closed party primaries a factor
If ¶¶Ņõh does postpone primary voting, itās not clear how that would affect its new election format.
At Landryās urging, the Legislature in 2024 moved the state from open to closed party primary elections, which require primary elections take place earlier in the year.
Under the new system, closed primaries for Congress are now held in the spring to determine which candidates will represent each party in the November general election. Under the previous open system, primary elections were held in the fall.
Secretary of State Nancy Landry, whose office oversees voting, said lawyers from her office are āanalyzing the opinion.ā
āWe are limited in what we can say at this time as this continues to be active litigation, with the case remanded for proceedings back to the Western District,ā she said.
State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, chairs the House and Governmental Affairs Committee and would play a key role in drawing any new congressional map. Asked Wednesday morning about whether lawmakers will work to draw a map during the current legislative session, Beaullieu said, āWe will be reviewing the decision and will know more once we know the particulars of the SCOTUS ruling.ā
Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, another key lawmaker involved in redistricting and chair of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, also said he is reviewing the ruling to determine next steps.
This is a developing story.