BURSTState’s governor and attorney general move to postpone midterm 2026 primaries just a day after supreme court ruling guts Voting Rights Act
House speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday urged states to redraw their maps following the Supreme Court’s monumental decision striking down the Voting Rights Act.
Louisiana – where Republicans could reconfigure two district currently represented by Black Democrats – has already indicated it wants to quickly redraw ahead of the midterms.
The landscape elsewhere is a bit more complicated. Alabama is currently under a court-ordered injunction to use its current maps – which has two districts represented by Black Democrats – until 2030. A court put that injunction in place after finding Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters. I would expect Alabama to quickly ask the court to release it from that injunction in light of the Callais decision.
Mississippi could also move quickly to get rid of a district represented by Bennie Thompson, a Black Democrat. And Republicans in South Carolina could also quickly move to get rid of the district of Jim Clyburn, one of the most powerful Democrats in the US House.
In Tennessee, Republicans could redraw the map to get rid of a district around Memphis, currently represented by Democrat Steve Cohen. Republicans in Georgia may also try and wipe out several districts held by Democrats.