SCOTUS just unleashed a gerrymandering dragon

analysis The Court's 6-3 decision gutting the Voting Rights Act will reshape the nation's political map in dramatic fashion Contributing Writer Published May 1, 2026 1:30PM (EDT) The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais will do severe damage to voters (Douglas Rissing/Getty Images) So much for the mid-decade redistricting wars ending in a tie. On April 21, Democrats engineered themselves a 10-1 gerrymander in Virginia, a pickup of four seats. Party leaders declared it payback and boasted about their new fighting spirit. Political pundits declared the mid-decade gerrymandering war had been fought to a stalemate, or that it had even backfired on Republicans. Five new red seats in Texas, balanced by five blue ones in California. Four new Democratic seats in Virginia to counterbalance Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina. No harm, no foul! Then the big shoe dropped. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3, party-line decision in Callais v. Louisiana, struck down Louisiana’s congressional map and installed new limits on the Voting Rights Act that will make it all but impossible to challenge districts that dilute minority voters. A report by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter found this could erase up to 19 House seats held