The big political news today is that the Supreme Court has further weakened the Voting Rights Act. Tonight, we’ll look at what that could mean for the midterms.
As a refresher, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s voting map, saying that lawmakers had illegally used race when drawing up a new majority-Black district, my colleague Abbie VanSickle wrote.
The conservative majority asserted that the opinion was a limited ruling that preserved a central tenet of the Voting Rights Act, but the court’s liberal wing, in dissent, argued that the justices had taken the final step to dismantle the landmark civil rights law, Abbie wrote.
In practice, what does all of this mean?
Well, as my colleague Nick Corasaniti wrote, it appears that the ruling, coupled with Florida’s push for a redder House map, could improve Republicans’ chances in the midterm elections.
The questions are: By how much? And with Republicans confronting a brutally challenging political environment, will any redistricting edge ultimately matter in November?
In Louisiana, Democrats could lose at least one blue-leaning district, but it remains unclear if that will be for the 2026 or 2028 elections. And in Florida, about an hour after the Supreme Court issued its decision today, the State House of Representatives approved an aggressive new congressional map that could give Republicans up to four new seats, my colleague Patricia Mazzei reported.
Do other states follow? In theory, some — like South Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri — could. But, Nick noted, given filing deadlines and early voting already underway, we’re talking about “just a handful of states” that could move to redraw their maps for an extra partisan advantage in November.
Still, in the battle for control of the House of Representatives, every competitive seat matters.
Beyond this year’s midterms, it appears likely that the ruling will only accelerate the maximalist gerrymandering efforts we’ve seen around the country.
More broadly, the ruling has also changed the nation’s position on the importance of ensuring racial diversity in political representation.
“This decision threatens to send our country deeper into the thicket of never-ending redistricting fights, with repeated aggressive map redraws, protracted legal battles and relentless partisan tugs-of-war,” Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, a Democrat and prominent Black leader, said in a statement. “This Court seems hellbent on redeeming the post-Reconstruction America.”
quote of the day
“If it doesn’t change, I’ll start tearing my hair out.”
That was Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker, who is urging his party’s leaders to “get reality a little better — and get communications a hell of a lot better” to salvage their majorities this fall.
With a little more than six months until the midterms, anxious Republicans are confronting a challenging political climate that party leaders fear could lead to a wipeout in the fall if it does not improve. My colleague Shane Goldmacher has more.
One Number
4 percentage points
That’s how much Democrats are leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Ruth Igielnik, The Times’s polling editor, explains.
Eager poll watchers turn to the so-called generic congressional ballot — which asks voters which party they will support for Congress — to figure out who has the edge ahead of the November midterm elections.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll gives Democrats a slim advantage, which has been sustained across multiple polls over the last few months.
But what is underlying that support?
In the poll, Americans identified the economy as the most important problem facing the country. But when they were asked to pick which party had the better approach to the economy, neither party had the edge: 33 percent said the Republican Party, while 32 percent said the Democratic Party.
Democrats, however, were favored on who could best handle the cost of living, 32 percent to 28 percent.
A difficult moment for Jewish Democrats
Across the country, Jewish officeholders and candidates for public office — a majority of whom are Democrats — are facing a singular moment in recent history.
At a time when incidents of antisemitism in the United States have risen sharply, Jewish politicians say they frequently find themselves personally targeted. My colleague Jennifer Medina spoke to nearly two dozen elected officials for this article.
TAKE OUR QUIZ
This question comes from a recent article in The Times. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.)
President Trump’s face is newly set to appear on a limited release of which government document?
Ruth Igielnik and Taylor Robinson contributed reporting.
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
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