Louisiana Dem challenges suspension of primaries after SCOTUS ruling

A Louisiana congressional candidate has challenged Gov. Jeff Landry's, R-La., suspension of the state's primary elections after the Supreme Court struck down its slate of congressional maps.

The Supreme Court specifically found that Louisiana's second black-majority congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and narrowed the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to bar race-based districts. Landry subsequently suspended the primaries to allow the legislature to redraw its maps.

The lawsuit, from candidate Lindsey Garcia, argues that Landry's suspension of the election was illegal since voters had already started voting, The Hill reported.

“It cannot conduct a primary under a remedial map that does not yet exist, in a remedial proceeding that has not yet begun, before a court that does not yet have jurisdiction," the suit reads.

Republicans are expected to redraw the map in a way that eliminates at least one Democratic-leaning district. Other southern states have also moved to eliminate Democratic-leaning districts in the wake of the ruling.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.