Alabama Gov. Ivey calls special session to redraw House maps

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, R, on Friday officially called a special session of the legislature to redraw its House maps in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based districts.

Ivey's order directed the legislature to convene on Monday, May 4, to consider a redraw of the maps. Republicans are widely expected to redraw the maps to eliminate at least one of Alabama's Democratic-leaning congressional maps.

The Alabama move follows redraws by Florida and Texas and comes as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee move to respond to the recent Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled this week that a black majority district in Louisiana was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to bar race-based districts.

Gov. Tate Reeves, R-Miss., called a special session in anticipation of the ruling, while Florida has already approved a new slate of maps. Louisiana has suspended its primaries to redraw the maps, leading to legal challenges.

With Alabama and Tennessee moving to redraw as well, only Georgia and the Carolinas have yet to do so, among the southern states. Virginia Democrats redrew their maps through a recent referendum, which is also facing litigation. Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., on Friday signaled that he did not plan to redraw the state's maps in time for the 2026 midterms.

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