Alabama calls special legislative session aiming to redraw Congress maps

Updated May 1, 2026, 5:18 p.m. ETWASHINGTON – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey reversed course May 1 and called for a special legislative session aiming to redraw congressional maps and increase fellow Republican representation in the U.S. House.Her decision came after a fellow Republican, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, halted primary voting in his state, to give the legislature time to redraw that state’s maps. President Donald Trump, who set off an avalanche of redistricting between 10-year censuses, said Tennessee's GOP Gov. Bill Lee also agreed to redraw his state’s maps.The activity follows a Supreme Court decision April 29 that made it harder to justify congressional districts aimed at having a majority of minority voters. Republicans praised the decision for making map-drawing color-blind but Democrats and civil rights groups said it would eviscerate the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s goal of ensuring minority representation in Congress.Alabama redistricting will depend on the courts acting quickly enough in challenges against the state's maps to redraw the lines in time for the midterm elections, Ivey said. The state's congressional maps approved in 2023 have been held up in court but the state would use them if the Supreme Court allows, she said."By calling the Legislature into