Morning Digest: Louisiana cancels House primaries so GOP can target Black districts
Republicans could eliminate two seats held by Black Democrats in time for the midterms
Leading Off
LA Redistricting
Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order on Thursday canceling Louisiana’s House primaries to give fellow Republicans in the legislature the chance to dismantle two majority-Black congressional districts that, until a day earlier, had been protected by the Voting Rights Act.
The move was immediately challenged in federal court by Democrat Lindsay Garcia, a recent law school graduate running in the conservative 5th Congressional District. Other court cases could follow.
Landry’s order rests on a state law allowing the governor to suspend elections “[d]ue to the possibility of an emergency or common disaster.” That authority has typically been used in the past when hurricanes, a frequent occurrence on the Gulf Coast, have disrupted Louisiana elections.
This time, the motivation is purely political and comes extremely late in the election calendar—just two days before early voting was set to begin ahead of the state’s May 16 primaries. According to his directive, primaries for all other offices, including a hotly contested battle for a seat in the U.S. Senate, will proceed as planned.
It’s not clear, however, when nomination contests for the House will take place. The order states only that next month’s primaries and the June 27 runoffs are “suspended” either “until July 15, 2026 or until such time as determined by the Legislature.”
The cancellation will also require another change, according to Senate President Cameron Henry, who told the Louisiana Illuminator that the state would revert to its old approach of holding all-party primaries for House races.
Two years ago, Landry pushed lawmakers to adopt traditional party primaries used in most other states, ending Louisiana’s unusual practice of having all candidates from all parties run together on a single ballot in November.
That system, which was first put in place by the late Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards in the 1970s, allowed a candidate to win outright with a majority of the vote; if no one cleared 50%, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, would advance to a December runoff.
Henry did not say what date the legislature might try to reschedule the House primaries for, but if it’s before November, averting a runoff won’t be possible even with a majority. That’s because the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that no one can be elected to the next Congress before the fall Election Day set by federal law.
Republicans also have yet to reveal just how aggressively they plan to erase the power of Black voters. They’re all but certain to demolish the 6th District, which the Supreme Court struck down on Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais, but they could go further by disassembling the 2nd District as well. Both are represented by Black Democrats, with Cleo Fields serving the former and Troy Carter the latter.
Many other Republican-run states could likewise eliminate minority districts that previously enjoyed VRA protection, as The Downballot detailed in a special report immediately following the Callais ruling, but none are moving with the same alacrity as Louisiana.
Donald Trump, for instance, posted on social media that he had spoken with Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee, where Republicans could gut the majority-Black 9th District, and said the governor told him that “he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw” in the state’s congressional map.
Tennessee might have more leeway than other states because its primaries aren’t until August, but before Trump’s post, top Republicans were noncommittal in comments to the Tennessee Lookout.
The speaker of the state House, for instance, told the outlet he was still “reviewing the recent opinion” and having “conversations with the White House and other individuals.” Similarly, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who presides over the state Senate, said he would speak with fellow Republicans “to discuss the feasibility of the question over the coming days” but called the current map “strong, fair and legal.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, by contrast, said Friday morning that there isn’t enough time for his state to pass a new map for the 2026 elections.
Kemp, though, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “it’s clear that Callais requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.” The paper writes that legislators from both parties anticipate that Kemp, a Republican who will leave office in January due to term limits, will hold a special session while he’s still governor to ensure his party can implement new boundaries in time for 2028.
Meanwhile, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey praised the Callais ruling in a statement but said she would not call the legislature back to work, explaining that “we are not in position to have a special session at this time.”
Lawyers for the state asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to expedite its consideration of an appeal in a separate case that imposed a second congressional district where Black voters could elect their preferred candidates. That request, however, may be aimed at allowing the state to redraw its map before 2028 rather than this year, especially since Alabama’s primary is also on May 19.
Let’s make something very clear: The Supreme Court did not “weaken” or “limit” the Voting Rights Act this week. It eviscerated it. Yet too many traditional media outlets pulled their punches and used weaselly language to describe what just happened to our democracy.
Not us, though. The Downballot announced from the get-go that the court had “gutted” the VRA, because we aren’t afraid to tell the truth. If you appreciate our commitment to clear-eyed candor, then we hope you’ll support our work as a paid subscriber.
Senate
KS-Sen
Adam Hamilton, the founder of the largest United Methodist church in the country, announced Thursday that he’d seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas.
Hamilton, whose church has nine sites and 24,000 members in the Kansas City area, joins eight other candidates in the August primary. All of his intraparty opponents, however, have struggled to raise money in their quest to become the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Kansas since 1932. The best-funded contender, state Sen. Patrick Schmidt, ended March with only $130,000 in the bank.
Hamilton, for his part, tells the Kansas City Star that he’d considered running as an independent until he’d heard from voters during his listening tour urging him to run as a Democrat. He ultimately decided to heed that advice and touts himself as an “independent-minded Democrat.”
The new candidate, though, argues that Marshall has failed to display any sort of independence when it comes to Donald Trump.
“He’s got the president’s ear. Why is he not doing anything about it?” Hamilton declared. “This is what I heard. I heard it over and over and over again.”
ME-Sen
Facing huge deficits in polling and fundraising, term-limited Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced on Thursday that she was dropping her bid for the Senate, less than six weeks before the Democratic primary.
Mills’ decision leaves oyster farmer Graham Platner, who now faces only minor intra-party opposition, as the prohibitive favorite to win the nomination. Recent polls have shown Platner leading Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking a sixth term.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who recruited the 78-year-old Mills to run last year, issued a statement with DSCC chair Kristen Gillibrand immediately after the governor’s announcement saying that “we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat” Collins.
MN-Sen
Former state GOP chair David Hann said Wednesday that he was dropping his long-shot campaign for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat. Former sportscaster Michele Tafoya, who has the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s backing, remains the frontrunner in the August primary.
House
FL-11
Former Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker says he’s considering running to succeed retiring Rep. Daniel Webster, a fellow Republican, in Florida’s 11th Congressional District. Baker would join Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, a prominent far-right politician, in the August primary.
Baker, who served in both chambers of the legislature before he was elected appraiser in 2012, lost reelection two years ago after his attempt to avoid paying the $10,685 candidate filing fee backfired badly.
Florida Politics explained at the time that Baker won reelection in 2020 as a write-in candidate after no one filed to oppose him—an option that didn’t require him to pay the hefty filing fee. Baker sought to do the same thing again in 2024, but another Republican, Mark Jordan, caught Baker off guard by filing moments before the deadline.
What followed was an ugly and expensive general election battle between Baker, who had the support of many local GOP leaders like Sabatini, and Jordan, who earned the Republican nomination by default. But while Baker ended up raising well over $200,000, it wasn’t enough to stop Jordan, the only candidate whose name was on the ballot, from winning in a landslide.
FL-25
Both former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer and former state Rep. George Moraitis announced Thursday that they’d seek the Republican nomination in Florida’s revamped 25th District, moves that came less than a day after the GOP-dominated legislature approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new gerrymander.
Singer and Moraitis had both been running against Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in the old—and Democratic-leaning—23rd District. Singer, who has self-funded a portion of his campaign, ended March with over $1.2 million on hand, while Moraitis had just under $500,000.
The overhauled South Florida constituency they’ve now converged on would have backed Donald Trump 54-45 in 2024, though it would have gone for Joe Biden 52-47 four years earlier. But while Trump’s declining numbers give Democrats reason to be optimistic that the political climate will look more like 2020 than 2024, it remains to be seen whether Moskowitz will run here.
The congressman, who represents just under half of the revamped 25th District, responded to the release of the new map earlier this week by telling Punchbowl News, “This is going to wind up in court.” But Moskowitz is also preparing a Plan B should the new lines withstand legal scrutiny.
“I’m running for reelection,” he told the publication. “I’ll figure out what district I’m going to run in. I think there’s three districts I could choose from.” The Downballot described those three new districts in detail in our previous newsletter.
GA-13
Activist Marcye Scott, the daughter of the late Democratic Rep. David Scott, says she’ll run in the special election for the final months of his term in Georgia’s 13th District.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, however, has yet to announce when this contest will take place. While state law gives him just 10 days to call a special election following a vacancy—a deadline that falls on May 2—the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that he has wide latitude when setting the actual date for the election.
None of the major Democrats running for a full term has said if they’ll also run in the special, though state Sen. Emanuel Jones told the AJC he was likely to. The deadline to run in the regularly scheduled contest passed in March, so it’s too late for Marcye Scott to also campaign for a full term.
NC-11
The House Ethics Committee is investigating Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards for alleged sexual harassment, CNN reported on Thursday.
The story, which was published shortly after Axios reported that the panel was probing Edwards for an unknown reason, did not offer any further details on the nature of the allegations. Edwards suggested the allegations were “false” in a statement to CNN.
“Given the current political environment we are facing in our nation, it comes as no surprise that others with their own political agendas will attempt to raise false accusations in order to create news stories,” he said.
While Edwards represents North Carolina’s conservative 11th District in the western part of the state, Democrats believe they have a chance to unseat him in the fall. The party has rallied around farmer Jamie Ager, whose grandfather represented the same district in the 1980s, and the House Majority PAC recently reserved more than $4 million in TV ad time for this race.
NY-11
A state court judge has restored former police officer Michael DeCillis to the June Democratic primary ballot after he appealed a decision by New York City’s Board of Elections earlier this week ruling that he had failed to submit enough signatures to qualify.
DeCillis is the only Democrat campaigning against Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis in New York’s 11th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island and southwestern Brooklyn. Donald Trump carried the district by an imposing 61-37 margin in 2024, though Democrat Max Rose managed to flip it in 2018 before losing to Malliotakis two years later.
SC-01
Noted hiker Mark Sanford dropped out of the race for South Carolina’s 1st District on Wednesday night after just one month on the trail.
The announcement from Sanford, a Republican who served as governor between his two stints in Congress, marks the end of the latest comeback effort by one of the strangest politicians of yesteryear. Both parties, however, are still paying close attention to the contest to replace GOP Rep. Nancy Mace.
Ten Republicans are still competing in the June 9 primary, so it will be difficult for anyone to earn the majority of the vote necessary to avoid a runoff two weeks later.
There’s no obvious frontrunner, but one wealthy candidate enjoys a huge financial advantage. Physician Sam McCown finished March with $1.2 million on hand, which was more than twice as much as what his nearest intraparty rival, state Rep. Mark Smith, had available.
On the Democratic side, retired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore has attracted considerably more attention and money than her six primary opponents. Lacore, a victim of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s purge of top military leaders, finished the first quarter of the year with about $580,000 banked, compared to just over $140,000 for attorney Mac Deford.
While Donald Trump carried this district 56-43, one prominent Democratic group believes it will have an opening in the fall. Last week, the House Majority PAC reserved over $2 million in ad time for the Savannah and Charleston media markets, resources that could be used to target the 1st District.
Poll Pile
LA-Sen (R): Emerson College for KLFY News 10:
John Fleming: 28, Julia Letlow: 27, Bill Cassidy (inc): 21, Mark Spencer: 2.
CA-Gov (top-two primary): Gudelunas Strategies for California is Not for Sale (anti-Tom Steyer):
Xavier Becerra (D): 24, Steve Hilton (R): 23, Tom Steyer (D): 15, Chad Bianco (R): 13, Katie Porter (D): 10, Matt Mahan (D): 6, other candidates 2% or less.
Mid-April: Hilton (R): 20, Becerra (D): 15, Steyer (D): 15, Bianco (R): 14, Porter (D): 13, Mahan (D): 6.
GA-Gov (R): University of Georgia for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Rick Jackson: 27, Burt Jones: 25, Brad Raffensperger: 14, Chris Carr: 3, other candidates 1% or less, undecided: 30.
CO-08 (D): Normington Petts for Shannon Bird:
Shannon Bird: 25, Manny Rutinel: 24, Evan Munsing: 6, undecided: 45.
Unreleased February poll: Rutinel: 20, Bird: 19, Munsing: 4.
IA-02: Public Policy Polling for Lindsay James:
Lindsay James (D): 36, Joe Mitchell (R): 33.
The release did not include any other potential general election matchups.
What is most profoundly disturbing about this Gerrymandering War is that it’s coming damn close to eliminating the need for voters in much of the US of A.
Democracy is, by definition, voters choosing their politicians. Today, politicians are instead choosing their voters.
Will federal courts agree with Landry, or will they force the state to have their primaries as originally intended?