Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation Friday authorizing new congressional primaries — potentially voiding May 19 results — if courts allow the state to revert to a GOP-drawn map that would collapse two majority-minority-leaning districts into one. The move comes directly on the heels of last week's Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which the Supreme Court used to narrow Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Alabama AG Steve Marshall simultaneously asked the Court to lift a 2023 injunction requiring the current map — five GOP seats, two Democratic-leaning majority-Black seats — through 2030. Justice Clarence Thomas set a Monday deadline for the opposing response.
Said Democratic state Sen. Rodger Smitherman after the vote: "What happened here today is that we were set back as a people to the days of Reconstruction."
The play is simple: one ruling buys Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee simultaneous cover to redraw maps mid-cycle. Republicans don't need all of them to hold — they need enough seats to keep the House.