Yet another state's districts found to be racist, resulting in new map for 2026 midterms

Amid the several race-based redistricting fights across the country ahead of the midterms, including states like Texas and California, one Southern state joined the ranks Monday in a move that has left nobody satisfied.

A federal judge ordered a small redistricting effort after finding back in August that the current Alabama state Senate district map violated the Voting Rights Act.

The new plan does enough to remedy the disparities while not upsetting other districts.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, a first-term Trump appointee, ordered that a new map that rearranged District 25 and District 26, two Montgomery-area districts, be implemented in time for the 2026 midterms.

Democrat state Senator Kirk Hatcher currently represents Senate District 26, and Republican state Senator Will Barfoot represents Senate District 25.

RELATED: North Carolina Republicans will 'follow Trump's call' to redistrict the state

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R).Photo by Stew Milne/Getty Images

The primary issue with the old district map was that it was found to "pack" black voters into one district, weakening their voting power in other districts.

Manasco wrote that the new plan “unpacks District 26 by moving some Black voters from District 26 into the adjacent District 25.”

The decision has been met with a widespread lack of enthusiasm in the Republican trifecta state, with many uncertain that a satisfactory outcome could be achieved.

Manasco wrote that the new plan does enough to remedy the disparities while not upsetting other districts.

Court-appointed special master Richard Allen warned in a court filing that the plan only “weakly remedies” the Voting Rights Act violation.

“As the law currently stands, states like Alabama are put to the virtually impossible task of protecting some voters based on race without discriminating against any other voters based on race. I remain hopeful that we will somehow find the ‘magic map’ that will both satisfy the federal court and also be fair to all Alabamians,” Republican Governor Kay Ivey wrote in September, according to the AP.

Based on this reasoning, Ivey declined to call a special session for the legislature to redraw the district maps in September.

The new map does not upset the partisan distribution of power in the state, where Republicans hold a majority, 27 to 8.

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