Alabama lawmakers pass plan for new US House primary if courts allow different districts

Alabama lawmakers approved a plan on Friday for new US House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year’s elections, sending the legislation to the Republican governor, Kay Ivey.

The move came the same day that the Virginia supreme court dealt a major setback to Democrats by overturning a redistricting plan that could have helped them win as many as four additional House seats. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina also presented congressional redistricting plans that faced staunch opposition from civil rights activists and Democrats.

Republicans in southern states have been moving quickly to try to capitalize on a recent US supreme court ruling in a Louisiana case that significantly weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. Tennessee enacted new congressional districts on Thursday that carve up a Democratic-held, Black-majority district in Memphis. The state Democratic party sued on Friday, seeking to prevent the districts from being used until after this year’s elections because of the tight time frame.

Even before the high court ruling, Republicans and Democrats already were engaged in a fierce redistricting battle, each seeking an edge in the midterm elections that will determine control of the closely divided House. That battle tilted further toward Republicans when the Virginia supreme court ruled on Friday that Democratic lawmakers had violated constitutional requirements when placing a redistricting amendment on the ballot.

Since Donald Trump prodded Texas to redraw its congressional districts last summer, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new districts in several states while Democrats think they could gain up to six seats. But the parties may not get everything they seek, because the gerrymandering could backfire in some highly competitive districts.

Demonstrators outside the Alabama statehouse on Friday shouted “fight for democracy” and “down with white supremacy”. “I was out there in 1965 marching for the right to vote, and now we are back here in 2026 doing the same thing,” Betty White Boynton said.

During debate inside the statehouse, Black lawmakers sharply criticized Republican legislation that would ignore the 19 May primary for some congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under revised districts, if a court allows it.

Greg Albritton, a Republican senator, said the special primary would happen only if the courts agree to lift an injunction that put a court-selected map in place until after the 2030 census. “Should there be no court order issued, then this bill would have no effect,” Albritton said.

The court order required a second district where Black voters are the majority or close to it, resulting in the 2024 election of Democratic representative Shomari Figures, who is Black. If a court lifts the injunction, Republican officials want to put in place a map lawmakers drew in 2023 – which was rejected by a federal court – that could allow them to reclaim Figures’ district.

The Alabama senate minority leader, Bobby Singleton, a Black Democrat, said Republicans are aiming to strip representation from Black voters in an effort to send another Republican to Congress. “We have just only been voting since 1965, and you are now trying to take that voice away from us,” Singleton said.