Supreme Court hands Alabama GOP a major win
The Supreme Court handed Alabama Republicans a massive victory on Tuesday, allowing the state to use a redrawn congressional map that eliminates one of two districts represented by a Black Democratic member of Congress, CNN reported.
The court issued an unsigned order on its emergency docket over the dissent of its three liberal justices — the latest in a string of redistricting rulings that have repeatedly benefited Republicans as the 2026 midterms approach.
The ruling is the latest fallout from the court's April 29 decision gutting the Voting Rights Act, which raised the bar for racial discrimination claims by requiring groups to show a "strong inference" of intentional discrimination before proceeding with a lawsuit. Several Southern states moved swiftly to redraw their maps in the wake of that ruling.
Alabama's redistricting saga has a long and tangled history before the high court.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ordered the state to create a second majority-Black district. Alabama defied that order, and voters ultimately cast their 2024 ballots under a court-drawn map that elected two Black Democratic representatives out of seven seats.
Last week, a special three-judge panel, including two Trump appointees, unanimously blocked Alabama's new map again, ruling the state had engaged in intentional racial discrimination.
"We cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination," the panel wrote.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed legislation authorizing special elections in August for affected districts if courts permit the new map.