The mid-decade partisan redistricting battle, which President Trump initiated last year, was supercharged by a U.S.Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act.The redistricting so far has had a particular impact on majority-Black and plurality-Black congressional districts in Republican-led states.In several of the GOP-led states that have redrawn maps — Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina — Black communities are no longer linked together and are instead absorbed into majority-white areas.In the six states listed above, voting is generally racially polarized, with Black voters a major voting bloc for the Democratic Party.
Nearly 78% of Black voters in the states voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, for instance.Republicans have said the new districts are simply about boosting their party ahead of crucial midterm elections.Here's a look at how Black areas have been changed by the redistricting rush:Texas moved first, responding to Trump's call to redistrict with a new map that shifts five seats toward Republicans.The new map has already led to a loss of Black congressional representation in the Houston metro area.
Loading...Black voters were shuffled around Houston, with much of the previous 9th Congressional District becoming the new 18th District.That includes majority-Black neighborhoods in Houston like Sunnyside, suburbs like Missouri City and north through the Third and Fifth Wards.
Many precincts in these places voted for Harris in 2024 with up to 80% support.This redistricting pitted two Black Democratic incumbents against each other.Rep.
Al Green, who represents the 9th District, lost to Rep.Christian Menefee in the May Democratic primary runoff for the new 18th District.Many historically Black areas in the northern suburbs, such as Independence Heights and Greens Landing, moved from the 18th District into the 29th, a district that had been 15% Black and is now about a quarter Black.In late April, the ...