Martha Maccallum flags ruling that could redraw maps every few years
martha maccallum is at the center of a fight over whether states will redraw congressional maps every few years instead of once every 10 years after census data is released. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais could push that timetable into the middle of the decade, with Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama already moving in response.
Jeff Landry announced Louisiana would postpone its House primaries set for May 16 while moving to redraw the state’s congressional map. That step has already been challenged in court, and a new map could let Republicans potentially flip up to two seats.
Landry’s Louisiana move
Landry’s decision puts Louisiana first in line for the practical effects of the ruling. The state’s election suspension came before the May 16 primaries, making the map fight part of the election calendar rather than a later political debate.
The broader stakes are larger than one state. Republicans are favored to pick up 13 districts across five states based on mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections, while Democrats are favored to pick up 10 districts across three states ahead of the same election cycle.
Tennessee and Alabama response
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he would work to redraw his state’s congressional maps in order to net another GOP seat. Tennessee’s current delegation includes eight Republicans and one Democrat, so any change there would come from an already lopsided map.
In Alabama, Secretary of State Wes Allen asked the Supreme Court on Thursday for immediate review of a dispute over the state’s 2023 congressional map, which now includes a court-ordered additional majority-minority district. Gov. Kay Ivey then announced Friday that the legislature would meet in special session starting Monday so it would be ready to implement previously blocked maps if courts rule in the state’s favor.
The timing matters because Alabama is scheduled to hold primaries on May 19, and South Carolina legislators have also called on their state to redraw its congressional map in 2026. That leaves election officials and lawmakers working against filing deadlines that have already passed in many states.
Stockley on the compromise gap
Joshua Stockley, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said both parties are likely to keep trying to build safer districts until a court or some other authority stops the cycle. “I think Republicans and Democrats, both parties, are going to continue to try to create as many non-competitive or favored districts as they can until we get to a point where somebody steps in and says, 'Enough is enough,'” he told News.
He added that stopping repeated map fights would require a political deal few states seem ready to make. “That’s going to require some sort of bipartisan compromise. And right now, I don’t see any state that is in a position of bipartisan compromise.”
For readers in states already under legal pressure, the immediate practical step is to watch whether their legislatures move before election deadlines close the door on new maps. The ruling could leave some states with fresh lines for 2026 and open the way for more changes before 2028.
