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Gov. Jeff Landry launched his first special session in office with a lengthy to-do list. Lawmakers gave him the congressional map he preferred and a portion of the election system redesign he desired. The rest of the agenda ended up on the cutting room floor, with the ideas likely to reappear in future legislative sessions.
As a majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court justices crafted a proposed map to redesign the court’s seven districts and include a second majority-minority seat, they forgot to include one highly important thing: Transparency.
Surprising few, Louisiana’s latest redistricting session turned out to be a flop, more a tense reminder ofthe polarizing and partisan nature of the mapping work than a good-faith effort to comply with a federaljudge’s order requiring new congressional boundary lines. Most legislators seemed to be engaged intheater, performing for judges or their constituents, rather than […]
Louisiana lawmakers have overturned Gov. John Bel Edwards’ rejection of a new congressional map inthe first override of a gubernatorial veto in nearly three decades, but the legislative decision won’t endthe redistricting fight.
Louisiana lawmakers completed a three-week redistricting special session two days early withmaps that largely maintained the status quo, cementing Republican majorities for anotherdecade and expected to trigger lawsuits from civil rights organizations.
When Louisiana lawmakers gather next week to open their redistricting special session, they’llhave a tight timeline to draw new maps and tricky politics to navigate. They’ll be grappling withcompeting demands, intense scrutiny and outside pressures.
Louisiana’s February special session on redistricting will see lawmakers trying to protect themselves andother incumbents, angling for more partisan power and deciding whether to expand the number ofelected positions available to minority groups.