Congressional Black Caucus

Alabama voters decided primary runoffs on Tuesday for the state's newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District, setting up a potentially historic November race that could play a part in the battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Louisiana Legislature's redrawn congressional map giving the state a second mostly Black district is being challenged by 12 self-described "non-African American" voters in a new lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered Alabama to redraw its map, to include a second majority minority district.

A divided federal appeals court on Monday ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act, a decision that contradicts decades of precedent and could further erode protections under the landmark 1965 law. This part of the law enabled Alabama voters to sue successfully for second black majority district.

It’s been two decades since the chemical company Monsanto settled a lawsuit with Anniston residents. People there said Monsanto exposed them to chemicals called PCBs which caused birth defects and cancer. But Monsanto is far from the only alleged instance of industrial chemicals harming Alabama neighborhoods. The APR News team presents this documentary we call, "Bad Chemistry."

State House member Napoleon Bracy, Jr. announced a bid for Alabama's revamped 2nd Congressional District, kicking off what is expected to be a competitive race in the newly drawn Democratic-leaning district in the Deep South state.

Alabama’s newest Congressional district may prompt a rare political battle in the State. Namely, two current Republican Congressmen fighting for their party’s nomination for one available seat in the U.S. House. The primary fight, if it happens, would be due to a newly redrawn set of voting district lines that creates an overlap with two previously GOP territories.

"Embarrassing," "chaotic" and "irresponsible." And those were just the words that House Republicans used to describe the past three weeks as they removed one speaker from office and splintered over three successive nominees before finally landing on House member Mike Johnson, R-La. A possible Democratic win in Alabama is another concern.

Three new versions of Alabama’s Congressional map will go under the scrutiny of a three-judge federal panel on Tuesday. The stated goal of this process is to create a second African American majority district in the state. Alabama’s Republican Attorney General opposes all three plans.

A three-judge panel has scheduled a hearing next week on redrawing Alabama's Congressional map. Three proposed plans were submitted by Richard Allen, the lawyer appointed by the judges. Allen's options would alter the boundaries of Congressional District 2 so that Black voters comprise between 48.5% and 50.1% of the voting-age population, a shift that could put the seat in Democratic hands.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on Alabama's request to let it keep new GOP-drawn congressional lines in place as it fights a three-judge panel's plan to create a second majority-Black district, or something close to it, in the state.