The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report moved five House seats toward the Democrats after the Supreme Court sided with Black voters in a congressional redistricting case from Alabama.
The forecaster changed Alabama’s first and second districts — represented by Republican Reps. Jerry Carl and Barry Moore, respectively — from “Solid R” to “Toss Up” after the ruling.
Louisiana’s fifth and sixth districts — represented by Republican Reps. Julia Letlow and Garret Graves, respectively — also shifted from “Solid R” to “Toss Up.”
North Carolina’s first district — represented by Democrat Rep. Don Davis — switched from “Toss Up” to “Lean D.”
“The landmark decision in Allen v. Milligan could reverberate across the Deep South, leading to the creation of new Black-majority, strongly Democratic seats in multiple states,” wrote David Wasserman, CPR’s senior editor for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision on Thursday struck down Alabama’s Republican-drawn congressional map, affirming a lower ruling that ordered the state to create a new map with an additional majority-Black district.
The justices ruled the GOP map likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters.