HAPPENING TODAY: Trial court to begin hearing challenge to new Alabama congressional map
Mid-decade redistricting could reshape House battlefield
A federal trial court in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday will begin hearing arguments in the state’s ongoing redistricting case. It’s one of many redistricting battles playing out in courts across the country that could completely reshape the battlefield in the fight for control of Congress.
Let’s go over how we got here and what all is at stake.
BACKSTORY
Every decade state lawmakers across the country are tasked with redrawing political boundaries to account for population changes.
In 2021, the Republican-dominated Alabama legislature passed a congressional map that had just one majority-Black district. African-Americans make up more than 25 percent of the state’s population, and opponents successfully argued in federal court that Black voters are underrepresented on the new map.
However, Alabama Republicans won an injunction at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices allowed the new map to remain in place for the 2022 elections while they hear arguments against it.
The court stunned legal observers this summer when they ultimately overturned the map and allowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act to remain in place. The ruling is already having a domino-effect on redistricting battles in several southern states.
RESPONSE
The ruling meant that Alabama lawmakers had to reconvene in a special session to draw a new map that complied with the court’s orders. The map was instructed to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.”
But Alabama Republicans did not comply with the court’s instructions. They once again passed a map that has only one majority-Black district, though the Black population in another district was increased to around 40% — well short of a majority.
Gov. Kay Ivey, praising the Legislature’s work, quickly signed the map into law. “The Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups,” she said. “And I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline.”
Before the ink could dry, opponents were already in court filing arguments against the map. They believed that Republicans never intended on complying with the court’s order and that they want to once again challenge parts of the Voting Rights Act.
WHAT’S NEXT
A federal court will begin hearing arguments in the case on Monday, and a ruling is expected shortly thereafter. And we already have a pretty good idea of how the judges will rule.
That’s because they have chosen an outside party hired by the plaintiffs to craft a map that complies with the court’s ruling, assuming that they strike down the Republican-drawn map.
As mentioned before, this is not the only redistricting battle playing out in court. Several southern states, including Georgia, have challenges to voting maps that will be heard by courts in the coming weeks and months. Republicans in North Carolina are expecting to draw a new congressional map this fall, and Democrats in New York may soon be allowed to pass a map that slashes the state’s Republican congressional delegation by more than half.
With Republicans defending a narrow House majority, all of this unusual mid-decade redistricting drama could completely reshape the battlefield in the fight for control of Congress. And congressional leaders are well aware of this: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was reportedly phoning Alabama state lawmakers throughout the process.
And we learned this month that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New Yorker, plans to play a key role in his state’s redistricting battle — with his eyes on the Speaker’s gavel.