Louisiana advances congressional map with reduced Black representation

Louisiana senators voted early Wednesday to advance a congressional map that eliminates one of the state's majority-Black districts. Why it matters: The proposed map pits U.S. Rep. Troy Carter against U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields for their seats, which are currently in two different districts, writes Piper Hutchinson of the Louisiana Illuminator . The latest: Senate committee members stayed up overnight to hear hours of testimony from residents about the proposals. The nearly 10-hour meeting ended around 4:30am Wednesday, Hutchinson writes. The full Senate is expected to vote Thursday on the bill, before sending it to a House committee next week. The big picture: Louisiana currently has six U.S. House districts. Four are majority-white and two are majority-Black. Gov. Jeff Landry says a new map is needed before U.S. House races can move forward. He suspended those elections April 30 after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Callais case . Lawmakers are racing to approve the new map before the legislative session ends June 1. Zoom in: The committee debated two proposals overnight. The winning proposal in a 4-3 vote was a map ( SB 121 ) from Sen. Jay Morris , a Republican from West Monroe. He says it's based on the state's previous map from 2022 and has a majority-Black district that stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. It redraws the others to be majority-white. The killed option: The other proposal, which was widely supported by residents at the meeting, was a map ( SB 407 ) from Sen. Ed Price , a Democrat from Gonzales. It proposed four majority-white districts and two "opportunity" districts that he says would give Black voters a chance to elect candidates of their choice, Hutchinson says. The map did not get enough votes to advance. Behind the scenes: Sen. Sam Jenkins , a Democrat from Shreveport, said lawmakers agreed not to advance a 6-0 map that would eliminate all majority-Black districts, Hutchinso...

Original source: Axios