Louisiana will hold early voting this weekend ahead of its May 16 primary, but not for its six seats in the U.S. House.
GOP Secretary of State Nancy Landry made the announcement Thursday shortly after the Republican-controlled state legislature signaled it was likely to redraw the congressional map.
“This is a mandatory step prior to the Governor issuing an executive order suspending the upcoming Louisiana U.S. House races,” said Landry. “All other races on the ballot, besides the U.S. House races, will continue as scheduled, with early voting beginning on Saturday.”
The state’s primary was thrown into chaos after the Supreme Court ruled that the state’s congressional map, drawn in 2024, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The 2024 map created a second majority-black district, where previously there had only been one. The redraw netted Democrats one House seat.
SUPREME COURT’S LOUISIANA REDISTRICTING RULING POISED TO WIPE OUT HOUSE DEMOCRATS IN THE SOUTH
In light of the ruling, Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) put all primary elections on hold. That move was later clarified to stipulate that only House elections would be paused, but primaries for the U.S. Senate and state offices would proceed. Early voting for those other races will begin on May 2.
“Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters,” said the governor.
The last-minute change, however, is likely to confuse some voters. The House races will remain on the ballot; however, the votes tallied will not count, according to the secretary of state.
Five incumbents are up for reelection in the races affected, including Reps. Steve Scalise (R), Troy Carter (D), Clay Higgins (R), Mike Johnson (R), and Cleo Fields (D). The state’s 5th Congressional District is open after Rep. Julia Letlow (R) opted to primary Sen. Bill Cassidy (R).
Louisiana state House Speaker Phillip DeVillier and state Senate President Cameron Henry, both Republicans, said they will be working on new proposals to “bring our congressional district maps in line with the Supreme Court’s decision,” and will reschedule the House primaries.
DeVillier and Henry said they expect to pass new maps in the current legislative session, which began March 9 and will conclude in June.
“We believe that we have the bills available in the current session to accomplish that work within the remaining month of our regular legislative session,” a joint statement from the leaders read. “ We want to stress to voters, as the Secretary of State has advised, that it is only the six Louisiana U.S. House seats whose races are being suspended at this time.”
Ashley Shelton, the president of the Louisiana voting rights group Power Coalition, told the Washington Examiner she didn’t know what to expect from the new maps, but expected at least one majority-black district to remain.
“The one thing about Louisiana and Mississippi, you know, that is interesting is that there’s so many African Americans in our states … There’s enough black people for there to be one African American district,” Shelton said.
She noted that if the state legislature were to get rid of both Democratic seats, it could backfire on House Republicans by diluting the vote in GOP districts, including that held by the speaker.
“At some point, the numbers and the math protect us in some ways at the statewide level,” Shelton added.
LOUISIANA VOTERS LEFT IN LIMBO AS LEGISLATURE DEBATES NEXT MOVE AFTER MAP STRUCK DOWN
It’s unclear if legal challenges will arise, especially given how close to the primary the maps are being changed.
“It depends on how hard Republican-controlled states are willing to work to eliminate Black-represented districts,” Sam Wang, director of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and Democratic candidate for New Jersey’s 12th district, told the Washington Examiner.