Landry suspends congressional elections

Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency Thursday to suspend congressional elections in Louisiana until after lawmakers draw new district maps. (Photo by John Balance / The Advocate)

BATON ROUGE — Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency Thursday to temporarily suspend this year’s congressional elections in Louisiana in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that maps of the state’s six districts are unconstitutional.

Landry said that the ruling had enjoined the state from going ahead with the election without drawing new maps.

“Accordingly, the state is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map,” Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill said in the statement.

But Peter Robbins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress, a progressive advocacy group that has worked on redistricting issues in Louisiana in recent years, disagreed that the state is legally bound to changing the maps during this election cycle.

“There wasn’t anything in the ruling that said these maps are invalid for this election and needed to be changed before it could happen,” Robbins-Brown said.

Absentee voting starts this Saturday for elections on May 16.

Except for the races for U.S. House seats, the state will continue with other elections on May 16, including the hotly contested U.S. Senate races involving three high-profile Republicans — the incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming.

There also are local races and five state constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry, a Republican, cleared the way for Gov. Landry’s emergency declaration by first issuing one of her own — a step that is required to suspend an election under state law.

The Supreme Court ruling could lead to the deletion of at least one of the two black-majority districts. The district most likely to be nixed would be that of U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, a Democrat.

“It is important to be clear about what today's ruling does and does not do,” Fields said in a news release. Referring to the federal court district in Louisiana where the challenge to the maps originated, he said, “While the Western District has the authority to act, redrawing maps at this stage would not be prudent.”

Melissa Flournoy, a former state representative and the board chair of 10,000 Women Louisiana, a nonprofit group, condemned Gov. Landry’s actions.

“The governor has flipped the table on Louisiana voters,” Flournoy said. “Throwing a wrench into the election process at the last minute is reckless and undermines trust in our democracy.”

Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, and House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, released a statement confirming there is legislation that can replace the current map.

“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,” Henry and DeVillier said.

Gov. Landry who pushed for the change to closed party primaries in Louisiana from open primaries, in which candidates from all parties ran against each other in the first phase of the elections.

The changes moved up the candidate qualifying deadlines and the primary election dates, adding to the time squeeze that officials now face.

In a 6–3 ruling Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Louisiana’s 2022 congressional map, striking down district lines that had previously been redrawn after legal challenges over minority voting power.

Louisiana’s map had been revised after federal district and appellate judges had ruled that black voters, who make up roughly 30 percent of the state’s population, deserved more representation through a second majority-black congressional district out of the state’s total of six districts.

The Supreme Court’s ruling now raises broader questions about Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices that discriminate based on race.

State lawmakers could vote for a new district map during their ongoing regular session.

Bills filed by state Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, and state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, propose new district maps that could be the starting points for creating a new map of Louisiana’s congressional districts.

Morris’ map could potentially return the state to the former 5-1 map, leaving only one black-majority district.

Robbins-Brown said these maps were similar to the maps the state held in 2022.

He said the Supreme Court did not offer guidance on the timeline for Louisiana’s redistricting in yesterday’s ruling.

“I think those election results would be allowed to remain, but that’s with all of the caveats that somebody would almost certainly sue,” Robbins-Brown said.

Secretary of State Landry released a statement stating early voting will still begin on Saturday, May 2.

“Our offices will post notices at each of the early voting sites to alert the public of this change,” Landry said. “While the U.S. House races will remain on voters’ ballots, any votes cast in those races will not be counted.”

State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, urges voters to vote regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“Regardless of what happens to the U.S. House districts, we have a U.S. Senate race, constitutional amendments, and local items on ballots across the state,” Beaullieu said.

The ruling did not strike down the last remaining parts of the Voting Rights Act, though it significantly limited the likelihood a case could win under the section. Now states, especially those in the South, could eliminate majority-minority districts.

Robbins-Brown said the ruling will allow for more politically gerrymandered districts.

“I think that if there was a ruling that required them to redraw the map in a way that would lead to a likely Democratic district or a district that would be likely to elect a Democrat, I have a hard time believing that the governor and the Legislature would be moving this quickly to draw a new map and ensure that it's in place for the upcoming election,” Robbins-Brown said.

Gracie Thomas and Izzy Wollfarth contributed reporting to this story.