Louisiana Shapes Added to House Map; Redistricting Update
By 270toWin Staff
April 1, 2022, 8:28 AM ET
Louisiana: Barring any changes from expected litigation, congressional redistricting in Louisiana is complete. On March 30, the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. The new district shapes have been added to the 2022 House Interactive Map.
The new map largely maintained the status quo of the last decade, which translates to five seats for Republicans and one for Democrats. None of these are competitive from a party control perspective. Democrats, led by Edwards, had wanted the new map to include a second majority-minority district given that Blacks now comprise about 33% of the state's population.
New York: On Thursday, a judge threw out the state's enacted congressional map, calling it a partisan gerrymander in violation of the State Constitution. The decision will be appealed. As a stay of the court order is expected while the higher court adjudicates, the district shapes will remain on the interactive map for the time being.
Ohio: It looks like the Legislature's second enacted congressional map will stand for the midterm elections, despite it being only slightly fairer than the one the Supreme Court tossed out in January. The court has yet to rule on the new map, and has now set a timeline for hearing the case that takes any decision past the state's May 3 primary. These shapes were previously added to the House Interactive Map.
Remaining States
Four states, with 46 total districts, have yet to complete congressional redistricting.
| State (Districts) | Comments |
| Florida (28) | As expected, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed the plan sent to him by the Republican-controlled Legislature. DeSantis is convening a special session of The Legislature from April 19 to 22 for the sole purpose of coming up with a new map. The intraparty battle centers largely around the treatment of District 5, a Black Opportunity district that stretches across much of the northern part of the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants this district made more compact, effectively eliminating the only Democratic-held district north of the Orlando area. The vetoed plan somewhat acceded to this by consolidating the district around Jacksonville. However, it didn't go as far as DeSantis wanted. |
| Maryland (8) | On March 25, a judge invalidated Maryland's previously enacted map, calling it a Democratic gerrymander in violation of the state Constitution. On March 30, the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a revised plan to meet a tight deadline set by the Court. It was transmitted to GOP Gov. Larry Hogan on March 31. According to FiveThirtyEight, the new map is much fairer based on their efficiency gap metric. It remains to be seen which (or either) of the two maps is enacted. The Court needs to rule on the new map, while at the same time the State will appeal the prior ruling. The bill (SB1012) passed with the revised map includes a provision that specifies the original map will be used if the State wins on appeal. |
| Missouri (8) | A deadlock in the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate was finally broken, and that chamber passed a map on March 24. However, the state House, which passed its own plan back in January, rejected the plan. Missouri is the only state remaining where no plan has been enacted or passed by legislators. It is a bit unclear what will happen next. The state's deadline for the August 2 primary was March 29; candidates filed based on the 2010 boundaries. However, a lawsuit has been filed, as congressional districts are required to have equal populations based on the most recent Census. |
| New Hampshire (2) | Gov. Chris Sununu (R) will veto the congressional map sent to him by the Republican-controlled Legislature. On March 22, he submitted his own plan to the leaders of both legislative chambers. Sununu favors a plan that keeps both districts competitive, while the map approved by the legislature makes each of the state's two districts more partisan. It made District 1 more favorable for a GOP pick-up; the party has not won a U.S. House seat since 2014. |
