BATON ROUGE — U.S. Rep Clay Higgins (R- Lafayette) tweeted Thursday morning that “NOBODY should support this insanely bad map.”
A few hours later, the state House of Representatives approved that map in Senate Bill 121, which is likely to create a Louisiana congressional delegation of five white Republicans and one Black Democrat.
The state Senate approved a somewhat different map two weeks ago, so further negotiation and more votes will be required.
The amended map was proposed by Rep. Gerald “Beau” Beaullieu, R- New Iberia. Several maps proposed by Democratic representatives failed before the House approved Beaullieu’s version.
One after another, Democratic representatives asked colleagues not to approve the map, but several acknowledged that their words were unlikely to change anyone’s mind.
Rep. Edmond Jordan, D- Baton Rouge, told lawmakers the world was watching.
“If you vote for this bill, you are participating in a racist act,” he said.
Impassioned arguments referenced white supremacy, the Bible, the n-word, and Louisiana’s sometimes horrifying racist history.
Rep. Wilford Carter, D- Lake Charles, said he believes Governor Jeff Landry knew the map he pushed lawmakers to approve in 2024 was illegal and he wanted the state to end up exactly where it is now.
“I knew this map was unconstitutional the first time I saw it,” he said of the map that led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that triggered Landry’s suspension of congressional elections and the current redistricting process. “Why did he support and didn’t let anything else out of committee but this illegal map? Because he wanted us to be right back here.”
“Our problem in this state, as in most of the South, is we’re trying to relitigate the Civil War,” Carter said. “The Civil War is over with. You lost the Civil War, OK?”
But ultimately, he recognized that his arguments were unlikely to change the outcome of Thursday’s vote.
“This bill is not a fair bill. It’s going to pass,” he said.
Rep. Aimee Freeman, D- New Orleans, said she was troubled that the court found it acceptable to create districts to protect incumbents, and that representatives were apparently OK with ignoring the hundreds of people who have come to House and Senate committee hearings to tell legislators what they want.
“We’re not listening to them because we know better,” she said. “This is just inside, back room politics.”
Rep. Alonzo Knox, D- New Orleans, got emotional when he tried to explain to House members how different the experience of racism and its history in Louisiana is for people who look like him.
“For some of you, this is just a vote. For some of us, this is our life. For some of us, this is our ancestors’ wildest dream,” he said.
“Two hundred and fifty years we persevered,” he said. “Two hundred and fifty years we have overcome, when we weren’t considered fully human. Imagine that – not considered fully human.”
When he choked up, several representatives joined him at the lectern, crowding around him and comforting him as he spoke.
“These tears that you see today, that’s years of therapy. It’s not a sign of vulnerability. It’s a sign of strength,” he said.
Representatives voted 66-35 in favor of the amended bill. The legislative session ends at 6 p.m. Monday.
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