The trial to decide the fate of Louisiana's congressional representation continued in Shreveport on Tuesday, as the court heard further testimony from elected officials and demographics experts.
The trial is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by a group of Louisiana residents that argued that the congressional map supported by Gov. Jeff Landry and approved by the state Legislature in January amounted to an unconstitutional "racial gerrymander." The map, introduced in Senate Bill 8, created a new majority Black congressional district stretching diagonally across the state to encompass the large Black communities in and around Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
State Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, testified Tuesday, saying that the legislature approved SB 8 because federal rulings had made it clear to the Legislature that lawmakers needed to approve a map that featured two majority Black districts or cede control of the redistricting process to the court.
Mandie Landry said that Republican political concerns further impacted how the district was drawn, as Jeff Landry drove his party to vote through a map that targeted U.S. Rep. Garret Graves' House seat.
"The governor wanted Congressman Graves out," said Landry. "Congressman Graves was targeted in the map. The governor and Congressman Graves had a longstanding contentious relationship. It was the one (map) we all understood would go through."
According to Landry, "It was time to put this to rest after so much litigation. Republicans were afraid that if they didn't, the courts would draw a map that'd be less politically favorable to them."
The new district is considered "safely Democratic" by analysts at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, while the district Graves was elected to serve in 2022 was considered "safely Republican."
Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, has already announced his intention to run for the new congressional seat.
Landry also testified that she voted for the new map in January because she felt it would give voters in the new district better representation in Washington.
"This is the South; there's a long history of oppression here," Landry said. "They'll have someone who better understands them."
The new map's approval followed a pair of federal court decisions that found that the congressional map the Legislature approved in 2022 violated the Voting Rights Act because it unjustly diluted Black voting power. That map only featured one majority Black congressional district out of six, when about a third of the state's population is Black.
The plaintiffs have argued that to create the second majority Black district, the Legislature unconstitutionally disregarded traditional redistricting principles, dividing communities of interest and creating an unwieldy district filled with constituents who will have little in common with one another.
Counsel for the ACLU, NAACP and others have intervened in the case on behalf of the state. NAACP Legal Defense Fund leadership has previously celebrated the federal court rulings and the new congressional map’s approval as a major victory for fair political representation for Black voters in the deep South.
The three-judge panel also heard testimony Tuesday from several witnesses brought by the intervenors who all argued that the new district, called Congressional District Six, does comprise an area with shared political interests and cultural connections.
Former Shreveport Mayor and Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport, said that the SB 8 map is the best outcome for northwest Louisiana because it allows the region to be represented by members of congress from both parties.
“You would have two members of congress to elevate and advance the issues of the area,” Glover said.
Natchitoches Parish School Board Member and Pastor Steven Harris and Ashley Shelton, founder of statewide political education non-profit The Power Coalition, both testified that Baton Rouge is significantly more similar to Shreveport, Baton Rouge and Alexandria than New Orleans.
“This district just makes sense, opposed to one that packs Baton Rouge and New Orleans into the same district,” Shelton said.
The court also heard from election demographics experts brought by both sides.
Mike Hefner, the plaintiff’s expert witness, testified that the new Black majority district could only have been created if race “predominated” all other factors.
“It’s clear what they were trying to do,“ Hefner said. “It makes it more difficult for a district to speak with one voice to their representative and for a representative to serve them.”
Anthony Fairfax, an expert witness brought by the intervening counsel, testified that other socio-economic factors and political concerns, including protecting incumbents, could’ve played a significant role in drawing the district.
“In my analysis, I saw other aspects that could allow the district to be configured other than race,” Fairfax said.