Mississippi’s governor announced Friday that he will call a special legislative session to redraw the state’s judicial district lines, but only after the U.S. Supreme Court issues its decision in a redistricting case with consequences that extend well beyond Louisiana.
The governor signed a proclamation Thursday setting that timeline in motion. Under his directive, state legislators will return to Jackson 21 days after the court rules in Louisiana v. Callais, a case the court is expected to decide before its term closes in June.
He has been direct about his position. The governor argued that the Mississippi Legislature has not had a fair chance to draw its own maps because the pending federal ruling has left the legal landscape unsettled. He said federal law gives the Legislature the first opportunity to address any redistricting requirements, and he intends to preserve that opportunity.
What Louisiana v. Callais actually decides
The case before the Supreme Court centers on Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map, which added a second majority-Black district after earlier maps were successfully challenged under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Louisiana is now arguing that the revised map amounts to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
Section 2 is the provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits voting practices discriminating on the basis of race or minority group membership. During oral arguments last fall, several justices appeared open to significantly limiting or eliminating that provision entirely.
A ruling that weakens or strikes down Section 2 would remove one of the primary legal tools minority voters have used to challenge maps that reduce their electoral influence. It would also give Republican-controlled state legislatures broader freedom to redraw districts without the threat of federal challenges, a shift that could affect House seat distributions across the South ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
Mississippi’s own redistricting fight
The Callais ruling matters directly to Mississippi because the state is already defending its own maps in federal court. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last August that Mississippi’s Supreme Court electoral districts violated Section 2 by diluting the voting strength of Black residents and ordered the state to redraw them.
That lawsuit was brought by organizations including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union. Mississippi appealed the decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which paused the lower court ruling while the Callais case works its way to a decision.
If the Supreme Court sides with Louisiana and narrows Section 2, the legal foundation of the ruling against Mississippi could effectively disappear, freeing the state to proceed with its preferred maps. If the court upholds Section 2, the Legislature will need to redraw the districts in compliance with federal law.
Why the governor is watching this case so closely
The governor has made clear that he sees the Legislature, not the courts, as the appropriate body to draw Mississippi’s maps. His decision to wait for the Callais ruling before calling lawmakers back reflects both a legal strategy and a political one. By timing the session to the court’s decision, he positions the Legislature to act immediately with whatever legal clarity the ruling provides, rather than drafting maps that could be challenged or invalidated shortly after they are drawn.
He indicated his hope that the court uses the case to reaffirm what he described as the principle of equal treatment regardless of race, a signal that he expects the ruling to favor Louisiana’s position and open the door for Mississippi to move forward on its own terms.
The broader political stakes
The outcome of Callais is being watched closely by redistricting advocates and Republican-led legislatures across the country. A decision eliminating or restricting Section 2 would reshape how maps are drawn in states with significant Black and Latino populations, particularly across the South where majority-minority districts have historically been required under federal voting law.
Most of those redraws, if they happen, would come too late to affect this year’s elections. The longer-term impact on congressional representation could still be substantial heading into the next full redistricting cycle. Mississippi’s governor is positioning the state to move the moment the court gives him the opening to do so.
