NPR | Thursday, April 30, 2026 
Supreme Court paves the way for largest-ever drop in Black representation in Congress

A historic drop in representation by Black members of Congress may be on the way after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision Wednesday to further weaken the Voting Rights Act. Now that the high court’s conservative majority has reinterpreted longstanding provisions against racial discrimination under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Republican calls for new rounds of map drawing for the House of Representatives have already begun. How much of that redistricting can be done in time for this fall’s midterm election is unclear, although many states have held or are close to holding congressional primary races. But in the long run, looking beyond this November, many redistricting experts are expecting Republican-controlled state legislatures in the South to eliminate at least some House districts with sizable racial minority populations currently represented by Black Democrats and that were likely protected under the Supreme Court’s previous interpretation of Section 2 provisions. From Louisiana and eastward to North Carolina, there are at least 15 House districts now at risk of elimination, according to an NPR analysis conducted earlier this year. (That list grows longer if taking into account newly redrawn districts in Missouri and Texas, which were not included in the analysis.) Exactly how redistricting will play out with an eroded Voting Rights Act is hard to predict. Some Democratic-led states may jump into the fray and consider undoing certain majority-minority districts to spread out their voters and try to pick up additional seats…Read more