ICYMI: NRF-Supported Plaintiffs Ask Federal Court to Keep Louisiana’s Current Map in Place for 2026

Washington, D.C. – This week, plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) submitted an emergency stay request to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Callais v. Landry, asking the court to keep the current, 2024-enacted congressional map, which includes two majority Black districts, in place for the 2026 midterms. The NRF is directing litigation and providing financial support on behalf of the Galmon plaintiffs in this case. The motion can be viewed here.

Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), issued the following statement: 

“Over 192,000 Louisianans have already voted in the 2026 congressional primary elections, and the State of Louisiana’s rush to dismantle the state’s majority Black congressional districts must be stopped,” said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF. “The state has already wreaked chaos in the ongoing election at the expense of all Louisianans, and the court must intervene quickly.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

On behalf of the Galmon plaintiff group, the NRF initiated the successful lawsuit that struck down Louisiana’s 2022 congressional map for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In 2024, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold and enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Allen v. Milligan, that lawsuit led to the enactment of a new VRA-compliant map for Louisiana, which includes two Black opportunity districts. 

Shortly after the Voting Rights Act-compliant map was enacted, a new legal challenge was filed against it by the Callais plaintiff group seeking to overturn it. That lawsuit eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the form of Louisiana v. Callais, where the Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. 

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the case has been remanded to the district court for the remedial process. The NRF-supported plaintiffs are asking the district court to issue a stay allowing Louisiana’s current map to be used in the 2026 midterm elections and to allow an orderly remedial process.

 To learn more about the NRF’s work, click here.

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