BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Republican state senators in Louisiana on Wednesday advanced a congressional redistricting plan that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black, Democratic-held U.S. House seats. The move follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Louisiana’s existing map as an illegal racial gerrymander and, according to the Associated Press, weakening federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters. The Senate committee vote took place early in the morning after hours of testimony from Black residents and Democratic lawmakers who argued the proposal would diminish Black voting power and reduce minority representation in Congress. Republicans declined to pursue a more aggressive version that could have targeted both Democratic-held districts, opting instead for a plan that preserves one of the two seats currently represented by Democrats. WASHINGTON, United States — The redistricting fight in Louisiana is part of a broader national battle over congressional maps that has unfolded for about 10 months and now involves roughly one-third of U.S. states. The AP reported that the Supreme Court’s ruling has encouraged Republicans across the South to redraw maps in ways that could weaken or remove districts with large minority populations that have tended to elect Democrats. Tennessee and Alabama have already adopted new House maps that could help Republicans secure additional seats, while a similar effort failed this week in the South Carolina Senate. Nationwide, Republicans believe they could gain as many as 15 seats from redistricting in states including Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama, while Democrats see potential gains of about six seats from new maps in California and Utah, as both parties continue to test legal and political limits on redistricting before upcoming elections.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.