WASHINGTON — Republicans see a clear win in Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional maps and that victory could keep them in control of the House after November’s election.
The Supreme Court, in a major decision, struck down Louisiana’s majority-black House district and weakened the Voting Rights Act, giving Republicans a chance to rewrite the congressional maps, particularly in Southern states.
As a result, Republican-led states could eliminate black and Latino electoral districts. And some strategists are arguing it’s time for the party to get aggressive to keep the House in control and protect President Trump’s agenda.
“This is huge,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager, observed.
“Right now, this only applies to Louisiana, but states can challenge their congressional maps and, with precedent, pick up Republican seats. If states are aggressive, we could see a healthy majority in the House perpetually.”
While the court didn’t explicitly throw out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – the provision that prohibits voting discrimination on the basis of race – it did weaken it and made it much more difficult for states, especially in the South, to draw majority-minority districts favoring black voters.
The repercussions could be far-reaching, although campaign operatives are still studying the decision to figure out how many House seats will be affected. The consensus, however, is that the decision gives the GOP the advantage.
“Expect at least one state to try to redraw the map,” a Republican operative told The Post. “Democrats are freaking out.”
The decision comes as there is a nationwide redistricting war going on between Republicans and Democrats. Both sides are redrawing House districts between the censuses in an effort to win in November.
Several election analysts note the court didn’t go as far as it could have in striking down the Civil Rights era law.
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“Quick read is that only affects handful of districts right now,” noted Sam Shirazi, adding the ruling was “not a green light to totally get rid of all” minority-majority districts.
Still, the gray area will allow more challenges to such districts, putting black lawmakers in danger.
Louisiana will have to go back to the drawing board. But some analysts argue other states can hold out until after the 2030 census.
“Alabama cannot redraw immediately, but unlikely AL-02 would survive judicial muster after 2030 redistricting,” wrote elections analyst Joseph Szymanski. Alabama’s second congressional district is a minority-majority district repped by Democrat Shomari Figures.
But Szymanski notes, because the Voting Rights Act was not abolished, Republicans “cannot eliminate seats in Georgia, South Carolina or Mississippi that are protected.”
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