Today, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and gutted all of us emotionally. In a decision authored by Justice Alito, the Court effectively eliminates challenges to racial gerrymandering at both the federal and state level. This will dilute the power of voters of color and likely eliminate numerous “majority-minority” districts across the South and other pockets throughout the country.
We know there are huge implications for the 2026 and 2028 elections. Louisiana will now be required to draw new maps. Mississippi has called a special session. And a special session is already underway to redistrict in Florida, with new maps being approved today and as many as four seats now in danger. An analysis earlier this year from Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter found that Republicans could net as many as 19 seats in the US House of Representatives and 140 state legislative seats across the South. It is likely too late for states other than Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee to make changes for 2026, as filing deadlines and in some cases primaries have already occurred. But we expect to see another flood of mid-cycle redistricting efforts heading into 2028.
All of this reinforces why we’re focusing on state legislative races across the country. In most cases, state legislatures not only draw their own districts but congressional districts as well. This is one of many reasons why centering state power is so important.
In that spirit—and in response to this moment—we hope you’ll join us tomorrow for the second event in our national down-ballot series: our Pre-Primary State Legislative Zoom. We will kick off the call with a video from the incomparable Stacey Abrams. Among her many hats, Stacey was the Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives and the founder of Fair Fight and Fair Fight Action. We will then be joined by Lauren Groh-Wargo, President of Fair Fight Action, to briefly discuss today’s decision and its impact on state legislatures.
We’re opening this event to all Electing Women members—no donation required—and encourage you to share it with others who care about these issues.
Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT (via Zoom)
Cohosts: Electing Women Alliance, WomenCount, Electing Women Wisconsin, EMILY’s List, The First Ask, MI List, Arizona List, LEAD Ohio and Women in Clean Energy
Link provided upon RSVP (no donation required)
Learn more:
Louisiana vs. Callais ruling
ACLU statement
Live analysis and updates from The New York Times
The Voting Rights Act ended Jim Crow. Today, the Supreme Court stripped millions of Americans the right to a fair and equal vote in elections. As Justice Kagan wrote in her dissent, joined by Justices Stotomayor and Jackson:
I dissent. The Voting Rights Act is—or, now more accurately, was—“one of the most consequential, efficacious, and amply justified exercises of federal legislative power in our Nation’s history.” Shelby County, 570 U. S., at 562 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting).
It was born of the literal blood of Union soldiers and civil rights marchers. It ushered in awe-inspiring change, bringing this Nation closer to fulfilling the ideals of democracy and racial equality. And it has been repeatedly, and overwhelmingly, reauthorized by the people’s representatives in Congress. Only they have the right to say it is no longer needed—not the Members of this Court. I dissent, then, from this latest chapter in the majority’s now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act….
The consequences are likely to be far-reaching and grave. Today’s decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter. In the States where that law continues to matter—the States still marked by residential segregation and racially polarized voting—minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process…I dissent because Congress elected otherwise. I dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote. I dissent because the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity. I dissent.