New Louisiana congressional map emerges from Senate committee after debate through the night

A Louisiana Senate committee passed a proposed congressional map at 4:25 a.m. Wednesday, reducing the state’s majority-Black, Democratic-leaning districts from two to one. The vote on Senate Bill 121, sponsored by Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, occurred after a night-long debate and followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that race-based redistricting is unconstitutional. The committee rejected an alternative proposal that would have maintained two Democratic-leaning districts, instead advancing a map similar to Louisiana’s pre-2010s configuration. Democrats criticized the plan, arguing it undermined civil rights progress. Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, stated that the bill ‘rolls the state back at least six decades,’ while activists described the move as a revival of Jim Crow-era policies. The new map retains five Republican-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning district, though it still requires approval from the full Senate and House. Republican leaders, including Gov. Jeff Landry, have expressed reservations about a potential ‘6-0’ map with no Black-majority districts, citing concerns it could weaken GOP candidates in future elections. The decision follows hours of public testimony from voters and advocacy groups, who argued that reducing Black representation violates decades of civil rights advancements. Checo Yancy, policy director of Voters Organized to Educate, called the proposal ‘unacceptable,’ comparing it to Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement. The Legislature must now act quickly to finalize the map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales, had proposed an alternative map with two Democratic-leaning districts, arguing it was fair and not primarily race-based. His proposal failed, with critics accusing lawmakers of disenfranchising nearly one-third of Louisiana’s population. The committee’s vote sets the stage for further debate in the full Senate and House before the map can be implemented.