Will Republicans go for a clean sweep or leave Democrats with one of the six U.S. House seats?

Published: May 7, 2026

By: Sheridan White, Kylah Babin and Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – As Louisiana lawmakers draw new congressional maps, one concern is how the changes might affect the districts of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and dilute Republican support in other areas, legislators said.

Prodded by President Donald Trump, national Republican leaders have urged lawmakers in politically red states to create as many Republican districts as they can to try to maintain control of the U.S. House.

After the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana map with four Republican and two Democratic districts, the Republican-led state Legislature is facing pressure from some conservative groups to draw new maps that could represent a clean 6-0 Republican sweep.

But some lawmakers, lobbyists and political consultants say that creating six Republican districts could fan racial tensions and leave some districts with a small margin for error and the possibility of Democratic upsets in future elections.

Reverting to a 5-1 map similar to what Louisiana had two years ago, they say, might enable Republicans to create five districts that would be almost impossible for the Democrats to breach.