BATON ROUGE — On Tuesday, a proposed Louisiana congressional map, which includes a second majority-Black district and has the potential to provide Democrats with an additional U.S. House seat, received bipartisan support and advanced through a legislative committee.
According to the proposal, the district currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Garret Graves would be transformed into a majority-Black district.
In Graves’ current district, 23% of the voting-age population is Black. With the proposed map, that number would increase to 54% — something the state legislator expressed dismay over in an interview with The Advocate.
Despite Black people accounting for one-third of Louisiana’s population, the current map, which a federal judge said violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters, has white majorities in five of six congressional districts.
The only majority-Black district, covering most of New Orleans and extending to Baton Rouge, is currently represented by Congressman Troy Carter, Louisiana’s only Black and Democratic member of Congress.
More on Louisiana’s new congressional map.
