The Supreme Court allows Alabama to use a GOP-backed congressional map during the terms
Supreme Court clears way for Alabama’s new electoral map
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision clears the way for Alabama to use a new congressional map, giving Republicans a big advantage, Fox News reports. Karl Rove, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, details the controversial second district map design. John Yoo, a UC Berkeley Law Professor, then addressed Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, which argues that the map violates the 14th Amendment by disempowering black voters.
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed Alabama Republicans a victory, issuing an emergency order allowing the state to use a congressional map that could potentially benefit the GOP in the November midterm elections.
The justices granted Alabama’s emergency appeal to use a map adopted by the state legislature in 2023 that includes a majority black district in this election cycle. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Alabama Republicans had sought to renew the previously blocked map, which is expected to give the GOP an opportunity to gain an additional congressional seat by replacing a struggling south Alabama district that helped elect a Black Democrat with a map that contains only one Black district.
The decision came after the Supreme Court last month overturned a lower court’s decision blocking Alabama’s 2023 congressional map and remanded the case for further review. However, last week, a three-judge federal panel again blocked the GOP-backed map and ordered Alabama to continue using a court-drawn map that contained two districts where Black voters had a majority or were more likely to elect candidates of their choice.
CLOSING AGAIN WAR INTENSIFIES AS GOP STRUGGLES IN TWO RETURNS
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey participates in homecoming festivities during halftime of the game between the South Alabama Jaguars and the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Sept. 13, 2025. (Stew Milne/Getty Images)
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey celebrated the decision Tuesday evening and confirmed that Alabama’s August 11 special election will be held under the 2023 map.
“The US Supreme Court has confirmed what I have said all along and that Alabama knows our country, our people and our states best,” Ivey said in a statement.
“Today’s decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our election,” he continued. “Alabama is doing our part to keep America strong, and I’m proud that our state continues to fight to make sure activists don’t get the last word.”
PRESS RELEASE: DEMOCRATS SAY THERE’S STILL A WAY UP IN THE HOUSE DESPITE GOP RECOVERY IN THE SOUTH.
President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the National Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on May 26, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’ll see you all at the polls on August 11!” Ivey added.
The redistricting battle comes as President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps following the Supreme Court’s Callais decision, which limited the use of race to redistrict Congress. Alabama argued that the lower court’s redistricting map unfairly elevated race over common district values, while voting rights groups argued that the state map reduced the voting power of Blacks.
In an unsigned majority opinion, the court wrote: “The State has once again made a strong showing of irreparable harm and that the interests and public interests are in its favor.”
SUPREME COURT JUST GAVE BLACK VOTERS REAL POWER OVER SAFE SEATS
US Supreme Court Justices pose for their official portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Oct. 7, 2022. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have repeatedly warned that lower federal courts should not “change election laws before an election,” the majority added.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the map discriminated against black Alabamians.
“Before the Court there are two paths,” Sotomayor wrote. “Under one is an organized election, held under a tried and tested congressional map that protects the right of Black Alabamians to vote and all voters, election officials, and candidates alike.”
MAJOR COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WIN THE BATTLE FOR REFORM
Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wait to leave the stage after the opening ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/AFP via Getty Images)
“Also lies a chaotic election, held under an unprecedented congressional map that deliberately discriminates against Black Alabamians, Alabama defiantly accepts a court order that was directly upheld by this Court, and that will require officials to change the voter registration of hundreds of thousands of voters in just a few days,” continued Alabama’s representation of the work that would take several months.
“The majority chooses the second path and ignores both the values of democracy and the rule of law.” he added.
The ACLU also criticized the decision, saying it allowed Alabama to use a racially discriminatory map.
“Today’s decision delays relief for voters who have spent years fighting for an equal opportunity to choose the people they love and to have their voices heard,” said Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, in a statement.
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“We are committed to pursuing equal opportunities in Congress for our clients and Black Alabamians,” he added. “We will fight for those rights even in the face of those who continue to move the goalposts and reverse our nation’s progress in fulfilling its promise as a multiracial democracy.”
Adam Pack of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
