May 13 (UPI) -- A Louisiana Senate committee voted early Wednesday to create a new congressional map to give Republicans another seat in the House of Representatives and remove one majority-Black district.
The map could give the state five Republicans and one Democrat in the House, compared with its current 4-2 split.
The bill has to pass a full a Senate vote Thursday, then it would move to the state House of Representatives. It must pass both chambers by June 1.
The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee met from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 4:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday as they discussed Senate Bill 121 and heard from Louisianans and advocacy groups.
The lawmakers rejected a plan that would preserve the two Democratic seats, but they chose not to eliminate both of them. The one that will remain is the majority-Black, New Orleans-area district held by Rep. Troy Carter, D-La. Under the new map, that district would stretch into Baton Rouge and into the district held by Rep. Cleo Fields, D-La. That could mean that the two representatives would face each other in an election.
