# Republicans target voting rights protections in push to reshape maps ahead of 2026 midterms **Published:** 2026-05-19T23:35:09.000Z **Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/19/repub/republicans-target-blue-state-districts-after-us-supreme-court-voting-rights-decision/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/republicans-target-voting-rights-protections-in-push-to-reshape-maps-ahead-of [Republican lawmakers are targeting majority-minority congressional districts in Democratic-led states](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/19/repub/republicans-target-blue-state-districts-after-us-supreme-court-voting-rights-decision/) following a seismic Supreme Court decision that weakened federal voting rights protections, signaling an aggressive new phase in the redistricting wars ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. On Wednesday, April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais that invalidated a map adopted by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024, which created two majority-Black districts. The ruling has sparked Republicans in multiple southern states to redraw congressional maps in pursuit of partisan advantage. The Supreme Court's decision eviscerated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a critical and sacred civil rights protection, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Though the court stopped shy of fully overturning Section 2, Justice Samuel Alito's opinion makes it incredibly difficult for voters of color to bring VRA claims when states engage in racial gerrymandering, specifically requiring them to prove intentional discrimination—a very high bar to meet. Republicans have moved swiftly to capitalize on the decision. Several southern states initiated redistricting in the weeks after the decision was issued, claiming their existing maps with majority-minority districts previously mandated by the VRA were unconstitutional under Callais, with Tennessee Republicans quickly drawing and passing a new map that eliminated the sole majority-minority House district in their state. Florida legislators had been debating a redistricting bill to increase the number of Republican-controlled districts in time for primaries, and passed it the day Callais was decided. Tennessee has already carved up a majority-Black district based in Memphis to give Republicans a 9-0 map, and Louisiana is expected to soon eliminate one or both of its majority-Black districts. Applying these changes to redistricting analysis, it's looking like Republicans will have drawn as many as 15, 16 or 17 new winnable districts for themselves for this year's midterms, while Democrats will have drawn five—all of them in California. At a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced that he was suspending the May 16, 2026, primary election by declaring an "emergency" to allow the legislature to completely redraw the congressional legislative map. As of May 4, 2026, when the Supreme Court issued its decision effectuating the ruling, more than 100,000 Louisiana voters had cast early votes in those very primaries. Voting rights advocates warn the decision threatens Black representation in Congress. The decision significantly weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which outlaws racial discrimination in voting and has been used for decades to protect against attempts to diminish minority voters' electoral strength. If all of the redistricting that Republicans want takes place, it is highly likely that we'd see fewer Black and brown members of Congress next year. ## Sources - [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/19/repub/republicans-target-blue-state-districts-after-us-supreme-court-voting-rights-decision/) - [NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund analysis of Louisiana v. Callais decision](https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/louisiana-v-callais/) - [SCOTUSblog coverage of Supreme Court voting rights decision](https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/05/court-gives-immediate-effect-to-voting-rights-act-decision/) - [Wikipedia entry on Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_v._Callais) - [Center for American Progress analysis of Supreme Court voting rights decision](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-supreme-courts-callais-decisions-undermine-the-voting-rights-act-and-sow-election-chaos/) - [CNN analysis of redistricting impact on 2026 midterms](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/politics/virginia-supreme-court-redistricting-impact-analysis-midterms) - [PBS NewsHour coverage of state redistricting efforts after Supreme Court ruling](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-wave-of-southern-states-scramble-to-redraw-congressional-maps-ahead-of-midterms) - [Time Magazine report on voting rights advocates' response to Supreme Court decision](https://time.com/article/2026/05/02/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-ruling-impact-south-advocates-fight/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/19/repub/republicans-target-blue-state-districts-after-us-supreme-court-voting-rights-decision/.