Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields said Tuesday he would not seek reelection to his redrawn Louisiana congressional district that was at the center of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race and redistricting.The majority Black congressional district was redrawn by the state legislature in May to favor Republicans in November’s midterm elections. A month earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that Fields’ district relied too heavily on race and was an “unconstitutional gerrymander.”“After a great deal of prayer and reflection, I have decided not to seek reelection, to Congress, in the 6th District or any other district in Louisiana,” Fields said. Fields, who a longtime fixture in Louisiana politics, said he would instead seek a seat in the state Senate.The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the map favoring Fields’ district escalated a nationwide redistricting battle, largely fueled by President Donald Trump’s efforts to protect Republicans in the midterm elections. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama could use a map that favored Republicans in this year’s elections.
Louisiana Republicans had considered drawing a map this year that would have given the party a shot at winning all six of the state’s U.S. House seats. But that would have required adding more registered Democrats to Republican-held districts, potentially backfiring with GOP losses.The new map renews Fields’ district to cluster it around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana.
