Study Finds 78 Southern Black Belt Counties Shifted Left After GOP Redistricting Push
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 30
Study Finds 78 Southern Black Belt Counties Shifted Left After GOP Redistricting Push
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 30
Summary
VoteHub found Republican map-drawing efforts after the Supreme Court’s April Callais ruling coincided with higher Black turnout and a leftward partisan shift in 77 of 78 Southern Black Belt counties.
States that voted after the ruling showed the clearest effect: in Louisiana, Black voters were 35.7% of the primary electorate and Black turnout hit 30.9%, 3.2 points above white voters.
Alabama posted some of the strongest gains, with Greene County topping 50% turnout and recording a 27.6-point positive turnout differential; several counties in the targeted 2nd District also surged.
Mississippi and North Carolina, which held primaries before Callais, saw majority-Black county turnout beat statewide averages by only 1.1 points on average, suggesting the redistricting fight itself helped drive mobilization.
The study comes as Republican-led legislatures in Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama moved to redraw maps, while Mississippi’s governor has urged new lines before the midterms.