Louisiana Republicans move election dates with hopes of redistricting for 2026 midterms
Source: Louisiana Illuminator
October 29, 2025 12:54 pm
Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature gave final approval Wednesday to pushing back 2026 primary election dates, capping a one-week special session that sets the stage for revising the state’s U.S. House districts ahead of next year’s congressional midterms. Their calendar adjustment banks on the U.S. Supreme bucking its pattern of issuing decisions in the spring and instead making a ruling in a key redistricting case before Christmas.
In the GOP’s preferred scenario, justices would issue a decision in the case by Dec. 20 that would clear the way for legislators to redraw the maps in an early January special session. The ruling might allow Republican lawmakers to remove one or both majority Black districts that Black Democrats currently hold out of the state’s six U.S. House seats.
In the case in question, Louisiana v. Callais, Attorney General Liz Murrill has argued that race was used illegally to draw boundaries of the 6th Congressional District that state lawmakers gave bipartisan approval to in early 2024. Specifically, she has called into question whether Section 2 the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 violates the U.S. Constitution. The section of the landmark civil rights legislation prohibits voting laws or procedures that discriminate based on race, color or membership in a language minority group.
Murrill contends Section 2 conflicts with the 14th and 15th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which cover representation in Congress and racial discrimination in voting, respectively. Black Democrats in the Louisiana Legislature led opposition to pushing back qualifying and party primary elections dates a month to allow for a possible redistricting. They noted that Murrill and Republicans, including Gov. Jeff Landry, originally supported and called for the creation of a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana to avoid having a federal court drawing the lines.
Read more: https://lailluminator.com/2025/10/29/louisiana-election-dates/