Alabama calls special legislative session aiming to redraw Congress maps
Her decision came after a Supreme Court decision April 29 that made it harder for states to defend maps created to ensure minority representation in the House.
Bart JansenWASHINGTON – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reversed course May 1 and called for a special legislative session aiming to redraw congressional maps and increase fellow Republican representation in the U.S. House.
Her decision came after a fellow Republican, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, halted primary voting in his state, to give the legislature time to redraw that state’s maps. President Donald Trump, who set off an avalanche of redistricting between 10-year censuses, said Tennessee's GOP Gov. Bill Lee also agreed to redraw his state’s maps.
The activity follows a Supreme Court decision April 29 that made it harder to justify congressional districts aimed at having a majority of minority voters. Republicans praised the decision for making map-drawing color-blind but Democrats and civil rights groups said it would eviscerate the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s goal of ensuring minority representation in Congress.
Alabama redistricting will depend on the courts acting quickly enough in challenges against the state's maps to redraw the lines in time for the midterm elections, Ivey said. The state's congressional maps approved in 2023 have been held up in court but the state would use them if the Supreme Court allows, she said.
"By calling the Legislature into a special session, I am ensuring Alabama is prepared should the courts act quickly enough to allow Alabama's previously drawn congressional maps and state senate maps to be used during this election cycle," Ivey said in a statement.
The high court’s decision set off a scramble to change the maps before the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of the House, which is narrowly led by Republicans.
In Louisiana, Landry signed an executive order postponing primaries until at least July 15 or until a date set by the Republican-led state legislature, citing an "election emergency of unconstitutional maps."
The state’s six-member delegation has two Democrats. The map the Supreme Court invalidated had two majority-black seats and Republicans hope to reduce the advantage for Democrats in at least one of the seats.
Alabama has two Democrats on its seven-member delegation, which Republicans hope to reduce by one. Tennessee has one Democratic member in its nine-member delegation, which Republicans hope to eliminate.
The latest attempts to remap the South come after political battles have raged for months in other states. But so far the new maps have only monopolized their own states rather than potentially tipping the balance in the House.
Texas redrew its maps to gain five GOP seats in its 38-member delegation. California retaliated with maps to gain five Democratic seats in its 52-member delegation.
Virginia voters recently approved redrawing the state’s maps for four more Democrats on the 11-member delegation. And Florida is in the midst of drawing new maps to create four more Republican seats in its 28-member delegation.