Alabama lawmakers pass plan for new US House primary if courts allow
different districts
[May 09, 2026]
By KIM CHANDLER, JACK BROOK, JEFFREY COLLINS and DAVID A.
LIEB
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A national redistricting battle over U.S. House
seats swung toward Republicans on Friday, as a Virginia court
invalidated a Democratic gerrymandering effort and Republicans in
Alabama approved plans for new primary elections if courts allow
GOP-drawn House districts to be used in the November midterm elections.
The Alabama legislation, which was signed quickly into law by Republican
Gov. Kay Ivey, is part of an effort by Republicans in Southern states to
capitalize on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly
weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minorities.
At the Alabama Statehouse, a chaotic scene erupted as one protester was
dragged from the packed House gallery by security officers. Republican
lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina also faced staunch opposition
from civil rights activists and Democrats as they presented plans Friday
to redraw their congressional districts.
The action came just a day after Tennessee enacted new congressional
districts that carve up a Democratic-held, Black-majority district in
Memphis. The state Democratic Party sued on Friday, seeking to prevent
the districts from being used until after this year's elections because
of the tight time frame
Even before last week's Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case,
Republicans and Democrats already were engaged in a fierce redistricting
battle, each seeking an edge in the midterm elections that will
determine control of the closely divided House. That battle tilted
further toward Republicans when the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday
that Democratic lawmakers had violated constitutional requirements when
placing a redistricting amendment on the ballot.
Since President Donald Trump prodded Texas to redraw its congressional
districts last summer, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14
seats from new districts in several states while Democrats think they
could gain up to six seats. But the parties may not get everything they
sought, because the gerrymandering could backfire in some highly
competitive districts.
Alabama primaries could be in flux
Demonstrators outside the Alabama Statehouse on Friday shouted “fight
for democracy” and “down with white supremacy.”
“I was out there in 1965 marching for the right to vote, and now we are
back here in 2026 doing the same thing,” Betty White Boynton said.
During debate inside the statehouse, Black lawmakers said the Republican
legislation harks back to the state’s shameful Jim Crow history. The new
law would ignore the May 19 primary results for some congressional seats
and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under revised
districts, if a court allows it. Lawmakers also approved a similar bill
related to state Senate districts.
“What happened here today is that we were set back as a people to the
days of Reconstruction,” Democratic state Sen. Rodger Smitherman said
after the vote.
Senate Democrats shouted “hell no” and “stop the steal” as senators
voted.
The special primary would happen only if the courts agree to lift an
injunction that put a court-selected map in place until after the 2030
census. That order required a second district where Black voters are the
majority or close to it, resulting in the 2024 election of Democratic
Rep. Shomari Figures, who is Black. If a court lifts the injunction,
Republican officials want to put in place a map lawmakers drew in 2023 —
which was rejected by a federal court — that could allow them to reclaim
Figures’ district.
“With this special session successfully behind us, Alabama now stands
ready to quickly act, should the courts issue favorable rulings in our
ongoing redistricting cases,” Ivey said in a statement.
On Friday evening, however, a three-judge panel rejected Alabama’s
request to lift their injunction and pave the way for changing maps. The
request remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Virginia ruling centered on timing of election
Democrats had hoped to gain as many as four additional U.S. House seats
under new districts narrowly approved by voters in April. But the state
Supreme Court invalidated the measure because it said the Democratic-led
legislature violated procedural requirements.
To place a constitutional amendment before voters, the Virginia
Constitution requires lawmakers to approve it in two separate
legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between. The
legislature’s initial approval of the redistricting amendment occurred
last October — while early voting was underway but before it concluded
for the general election. The legislature’s second vote on the amendment
occurred after a new legislative session began in January.
[to top of second column]
|
A demonstrator holds up a sign outside the Alabama Statehouse in
Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, May, 7 2026. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
The state Supreme Court said the initial legislative approval came
too late, noting that more than 1.3 million ballots already had been
cast, about 40% of the total votes ultimately cast.
Louisiana lawmakers look at map options
A Louisiana Senate committee considered several redistricting
options Friday from Republican state Sen. John “Jay” Morris that
would eliminate either both or one of the current Black-majority
U.S. House districts.
“Every one of these maps reduces Black voting power in every one of
the districts. And I think that’s a problem,” Democratic state Sen.
Sam Jenkins told Morris.
Morris denied that the proposed redistricting maps were racially
discriminatory. He said his goal was to be “respectful of the
traditional boundaries” of the state’s six congressional districts.
“I don’t think we should care that much about race,” Morris said.
The only four Black congressmen who have represented Louisiana since
the end of the Reconstruction era appealed to state senators to keep
two majority-Black districts in a state where one-third of voters
are Black.
Leona Tate said she was escorted as a 6-year-old girl by federal
marshals through a racist white mob trying to prevent her from
desegregating a New Orleans elementary school. She told lawmakers
she felt they were taking a step backward in time by reducing Black
political power.
“You have a choice in front of you: You can draw a map that reflects
what Louisiana actually is -- a state where Black voices belong in
the halls of Congress,” said Tate, 71. “Or you can draw a map that
tells my grandchildren that their votes don’t count, that their
faces don’t matter and that the progress I helped build with my own
two feet as a 6-year-old can be erased at will.”
South Carolina considers a House map
South Carolina lawmakers held a rare Friday meeting to discuss a
proposed new congressional map intended to allow Republicans a clean
sweep of the state’s seven U.S. House seats.
The House hearing was the first step in redistricting. But its
future remains murky. The state Senate has yet to agree to consider
new districts later this month, an action that requires a two-thirds
vote.
The new map has some Republicans nervous. Breaking up the 6th
District, represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, makes the
other six districts less Republican.
At Friday’s subcommittee meeting, lawmakers heard hours of
testimony, almost all against the new map. The hearing included a
consultant who reviewed the map, saying it appeared to be legal
under the Supreme Court's decision in the Louisiana case.
“I agree if the law allows us to do it, then we can do It,”
Democratic state Rep. Justin Bamberg said. “But I can slap
somebody’s mama and it’s not the right thing to do.”
Some absentee ballots already have been returned for the state's
June 9 primary elections. The legislative subcommittee advanced a
plan to delay the congressional primary to August and reopen a
candidate filing period, if a new map is approved.
___
Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina; Brook from Baton
Rouge, Louisiana; and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. AP
reporter Travis Loller contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
