Voting Rights Act ruling is ‘red meat’ to Republicans in south, says Black lawmaker targeted by gerrymander

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has emboldened Republican legislators in Mississippi to target Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson by threatening to redraw his congressional district to reduce Black voter influence.
• Federal protections under the VRA previously prevented discriminatory practices like voter suppression, but the recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais allows states more freedom to redraw districts in ways that may disenfranchise Black voters, raising concerns about a resurgence of voter suppression tactics.
• Mississippi’s second congressional district, represented by Thompson since 1993, is currently sprawling and difficult to manage, and Republicans have criticized it as gerrymandered, despite having controlled the redistricting process for decades.
• The state has a significant Black population (about 38%), historically underrepresented due to Jim Crow-era suppression, but the VRA helped increase Black political representation; recent moves by Republican leaders to redraw districts threaten to reverse these gains.
• Thompson vows to continue fighting for voting rights and representative democracy, emphasizing the need for organization and resistance against efforts to roll back civil rights protections, while southern states face ongoing legal challenges over redistricting maps.