Alabama is currently “not in position” to have a special session on redistricting, according to Governor Kay Ivey.

A 6-3 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) found the use of race-based redistricting to be unconstitutional in a Louisiana case on Wednesday. The ruling will likely have major implications for Alabama’s congressional map. SCOTUS could rule on Alabama-specific redistricting cases next week.

The State of Alabama is still defending its congressional map, which legislators approved in 2023. A special master appointed by a three-judge panel in Birmingham redrew the map for the 2024 congressional elections after Democrats and liberal groups prevailed in their initial legal challenge. The issue is still being litigated. The new map resulted in Democrats picking up one seat in Alabama, Congressional District 2, with U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) in 2024.

U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, and U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer ruled the 2023 plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Some have called for Alabama to redraw its map to create seven likely Republican congressional districts after the SCOTUS ruling on Wednesday.

In August, a federal court barred Alabama from redrawing its current, court-ordered congressional map again until 2030. It remains to be seen whether Wednesday’s SCOTUS ruling will give Alabama the ability to redraw its congressional districts for 2026.

“I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision today in Louisiana v. Callais. While I am encouraged by this decision, it does not yet resolve our ongoing redistricting fight over Alabama’s congressional map. For too long, federal courts forced states like Alabama into a no-win situation at the hands of activists who want us to draw maps that discriminate against our own citizens based on race. As the Supreme Court rightly recognized, the Alabama of today is not the Alabama of the past, and we are proud of our progress,” Ivey said in a statement. “Litigation surrounding Alabama’s congressional districts is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Alabama is currently under a court order prohibiting the use of new congressional districts until after the 2030 census. While we are not in position to have a special session at this time, I hope in light of this new decision, the court is favorable to Alabama.”

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said on Wednesday that Alabama should redraw their congressional map so all seven seats would be held by Republicans.

 

“Alabama Republicans control both U.S. Senate seats, all constitutional offices, every state judgeship, and have legislative supermajorities, so it makes perfect sense for us to hold every congressional seat, too. We are a bright red state, and our congressional map should show it,” Ainsworth said.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) and State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) said in a joint statement on Wednesday, “Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision proves what we have known all along – that race-based government decisions are unconstitutional, and that the seemingly endless cycles of court-ordered redistricting taking place across the country have become nothing more than a vehicle for Democrats to win elections in courtrooms instead of at the ballot box.” 

“Racial gerrymandering disguised as justice has no place in our country, and we have every intention of ensuring that, moving forward, Alabama’s congressional and state legislative maps are drawn in a way that respects the Constitution and reflects the values of Alabamians,” Ledbetter and Gudger said.

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