State Senate approves map eliminating 1 of 2 majority Black districts

Published: May 14, 2026

By: Sheridan White, Kylah Babin, Avery White and Gracie Thomas, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – The Senate voted 27-10 along party lines Thursday to advance to the House a new voting map that favors Republican candidates in five of Louisiana’s six congressional districts.

After a contentious, 9 1/2-hour meeting in the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee that lasted throughout the night until early morning Wednesday, the Senate met for four hours Thursday and advanced the 5-1 map outlined in Senate Bill 121 by Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe.

Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, and Sen. Larry Selders, D-Baton Rouge, were the lone senators who did not vote. Selders has been recuperating from health issues.

Morris said he created the new map based on party affiliation rather than race, which was the guiding principle highlighted by the Supreme Court in its decision in Callais v. Louisiana, which indicated race could not be used as the primary factor in drawing congressional maps.

“It’s perfectly fine for us to redraw maps based upon politics,” Morris said. “Since I am a Republican and believe in the policies that Republicans often advance, these maps are drawn to maximize Republican advantage for the incumbent Republicans that we have in Congress at the present time.”