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Voting Rights · Report · File No. 261112-850

Black House members to fall to 60 from 63 after Supreme Court weakens Voting Rights Act

A Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act is cutting Black representation in the House, NPR found. A midterm wave of Black voter turnout softened the drop, but experts warn the next redistricting rounds could bring more losses.

By the Campaign Desk · · 3 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

My clippings
Shomari Figures
Shomari Figures. Photo: House Creative Services, Public domain

A Supreme Court ruling this year that further weakened the Voting Rights Act raised the possibility of a record drop in Black representation in Congress. A Democratic wave in the midterm elections helped hold off that decline for now, NPR reports 1.

The incoming Congress is set to include 60 Black House members, counting nonvoting members, down from 63 in the current House, according to an NPR analysis. That is one short of the record loss of four Black representatives after the 1876 election, around the end of Reconstruction 1.

What the court did

The decision was Louisiana v. Callais. It weakened the Voting Rights Act's protections against racial discrimination in political mapmaking 1. A law professor at Washington University in St. Louis says the April 2026 ruling narrowed Section 2 of the act, which guards against maps that dilute minority voting power, and led six Southern states to redraw congressional maps mid-decade 2.

In Louisiana, Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields chose not to seek reelection after the ruling struck down the Black opportunity district he represented 1. A Black opportunity district is one drawn so Black voters have a realistic chance to elect their preferred candidate.

From Channel GOPShomari Figures wins Alabama's House District 2Shomari Figures · 152 plays · captioned, with the source named

Alabama's test

Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat, won reelection in Alabama even though state Republican leaders redrew his district to lean far more GOP after the ruling. A lower federal court had earlier found the new lines were "tainted by intentional race-based discrimination." The court also said they would "afford Black-preferred candidates zero chance of winning there" 1.

It took a remarkable level of turnout in order for [Figures] to be able to win,
Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director, Black Voters Matter1

New maps in Texas and Florida undid some Black-represented districts. In North Carolina, Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat, held his seat after the GOP legislature redrew it 1. Two incoming Black Democrats, Cyril Jefferson and LaKesha Womack, flipped districts long held by white Republicans 1.

Retirements and members running for higher office also contributed to the lower count 1. In the Senate, which has no redistricting, the new Congress will have a record seven Black senators. Among them is Scott Colom, set to be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction 1.

Why experts urge caution

Advocates and redistricting experts warn that redrawn lines in coming years, including after the 2030 census, still threaten Black representation 1. The ruling came too late for many states to redraw maps before this year's election 1.

Kareem Crayton of the Brennan Center for Justice compared the moment to 2009, when big Democratic gains were largely wiped out within two years 1.

It could be that this is a start of a generational shift, but it might not be.
Kareem Crayton, vice president, Brennan Center for Justice's Washington, D.C., office1

Janai Nelson, president of the Legal Defense Fund, which represents Black Louisiana voters in the case, said state legislature, city council and school board maps have largely been untouched by the ruling so far. She warned that new rounds of redrawing could have a "devastating impact" on Black voters' electability, especially in the South 1.

What happens next

In Georgia, outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said he will not call a special session on redistricting before Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms takes office in January. She will be the country's first Black woman elected governor 1.

The legal expert at Washington University wrote that the 2028 and 2030 elections will show more of the ruling's effects 2. That matters because this year's result depended on a surge in turnout that may not repeat. The new rules are now in place for mapmakers who want to use them.

The Record

  1. The Supreme Court decided Louisiana v. Callais, weakening Voting Rights Act protections against discriminatory maps 2.
  2. Rep. Shomari Figures won reelection in Alabama despite a redrawn, more Republican-leaning district 1.
  3. NPR's analysis finds 60 Black House members in the next Congress, down from 63, and a record seven Black senators 1.
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Sources

  1. NPR, “A blue wave helped offset for now a falling tally of Black members in the U.S. House” (2026-11-12). npr.org/2026/11/12/nx-s1-6029640/black-voter-turnout-congres
  2. WashU The Source, “WashU expert: Callais' impact on voting rights extends beyond 2026 midterms” (2026-11-05). source.washu.edu/2026/11/washu-expert-callais-impact-on-voti

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