Black voter turnout soars amid GOP’s racist map-rigging
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/15/800039363/elections/black-voter-turnout-soars-gop-racist-gerrymandering/
Black voter turnout soars amid GOP’s racist map-rigging
GOP-controlled states in the South are rushing to redraw their congressional maps after the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, paving the way for Republicans to draw new lines that eliminate seats held by Black Democrats.
The gerrymandering efforts have led to disgusting images of Republicans gloating in the faces of the Black lawmakers, whose power they are purposely erasing—proving why the VRA is so necessary.
But while Republicans may have a short-term high, their racist gerrymandering appears to be having the unintended and politically damaging consequence of boosting Black voter turnout in the midterms, erasing any gains the GOP made with the voting bloc in 2024.
In Louisiana—where Republicans went as far as to throw out already cast ballots and delay the House primaries to redraw a new map more favorable to their party—Black voter turnout is skyrocketing.
According to data compiled by Louisiana pollster John Couvillon, Democrats are turning out in higher numbers than Republicans for the May 16 primaries for Senate, state Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission, and some ballot measures—which he described as “atypical” for the state.
Not just that, but Black voters make up a larger percentage of the primary electorate than previous cycles. Couvillon said the current makeup of the primary electorate is 62% white and 35% Black—a major shift from 2023, when turnout was 71% white and 26% Black.
That doesn’t bode well for Republicans in a set of GOP-pushed ballot measures.
“There are 5 amendments on the ballot, some of which are important to the Governor/his team. So the amendments (as well as the GOP Senate contest) are the races to watch tomorrow night,” Couvillon wrote on X.
A similar situation is playing out in Georgia, where GOP Gov. Brian Kemp is pushing Republicans to redraw congressional maps for the 2028 elections—a sign that he’s nervous he’ll lose this fall and won’t be able to redraw the maps at that point.
Related | Democrats are still favored to win the House, even with GOP’s rigging
As Georgia’s early voting comes to an end ahead of the May 19 primaries, Democrats are heavily outvoting Republicans, with Black voters in particular making up roughly 34% of the electorate, according to data from Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. And those voters are choosing Democratic ballots by a margin of 96.8% to Republicans’ 2%.
By comparison, Black voters made up 26% of the electorate in the 2022 midterms.
The massive surge in Black voters in Georgia bodes well for Democrats’ chances at flipping two of the state’s Supreme Court seats—which are on the May 19 primary ballot.
Indeed, liberal Supreme Court candidate Jen Jordan is highlighting the VRA ruling in the final days of the race.
“We need justices who will defend the right to vote, not enable its erosion. Justices who see the law as a shield for the people, not a weapon for politicians,” Jordan wrote in a fundraising email.
It also is good news for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s reelection hopes, as well as for Democrats’ chances in the open-seat gubernatorial contest.
Republicans may be patting themselves on the back for their corrupt efforts to rig congressional maps, but the unintended consequences could end up costing them in places like Georgia and eroding any gains they made with Black voters in 2024.
“Given Trump’s unpopularity, the price at the pump and the precedent of most every modern midterm, this was already shaping up to be a forbidding election year for Republicans,” Politico columnist Jonathan Martin wrote. “To pick at the rawest of American wounds as the country marks 250 years would only turbocharge Democratic enthusiasm and turnout.”
While trying to cater to President Donald Trump’s demands, ultimately the GOP is just shooting itself in the foot.
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