Mississippi lawmakers will return to the state capitol in under a month following a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a major voting rights case.
Last week, Gov. Tate Reeves called for a special session to take place 21 days after the nation’s high court ruled on the Louisiana v. Callais case. On Wednesday, SCOTUS delivered a decision that could impact how electoral maps are shaped nationwide, including in Mississippi, where the state legislature will soon have the opportunity to potentially reshape future election outcomes.
The case centered on a second majority Black congressional district created in Louisiana, with challengers arguing that creating race-based districts was unconstitutional. In a 6-3 ruling, SCOTUS ruled that Louisiana’s Democratically-represented district had been egregiously carved out based on race, opening the door for other Republican-led states to redistrict.
In Mississippi, lawmakers were tasked this year with updating the state Supreme Court electoral map, following a December ruling that the current one dilutes Black voting power. Judge Sharion Aycock for the Northern District of Mississippi instructed lawmakers to redraw lines during the 2026 regular session, but the legislature elected not to do so before SCOTUS made a move on the relevant Louisiana case.
Now that the decision is settled and there is a federal precedent established, where race-based districting can be effectively disputed, the legislature will meet next month to reassess the Supreme Court boundaries and possibly mull redistricting elsewhere, though the agenda of a special session in Mississippi is up to the discretion of the governor.
Reeves, at this time, has not called for congressional redistricting – like what recently took place in Virginia, where voters eliminated multiple Republican districts and gave Democrats more representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. But one state official has been open about his desire for the congressional makeup of Mississippi.
State Auditor Shad White, a Republican who is considering a run for governor in 2027, is pushing the idea of using Wednesday’s ruling to redraw Mississippi’s congressional map in a way longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson has a harder chance of getting elected. White referred to the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which is represented by Thompson, as resembling a “snake down the Mississippi River.”
“This likely opens the door to redrawing Mississippi’s congressional districts,” White said of the ruling. “Mississippi might no longer have a district drawn to protect Bennie Thompson.”
Neither Thompson nor the Mississippi Democratic Party has commented on the nation’s high court’s decision at this time. Per the calendar, 21 days from now is May 20, though Gov. Reeves has not responded to a confirmation request from SuperTalk Mississippi News regarding the date of the upcoming special session.
