It's true that I was fully prepared to run in [McClintock's district], having tested the waters and with polls showing a favorable outlook in a 'safe' district. But doing what's easy and what's right are often not the same. And at the end of the day, as much as I love the communities in [that] District that I represent now - and as excited as I was about the new ones - seeking office in a district that doesn't include my hometown didn't feel right.
During the rare rehearing of a Louisiana redistricting case in October, the court's conservative majority appeared inclined to weaken the Voting Rights Act's Section 2 protections against racial discrimination in the political mapmaking process. Such a ruling could spark a new wave of congressional redistricting, especially in the South, where voting is often racially polarized and Section 2 has long prevented the dilution of Black minority voters' collective power.
