Sen. Raphael Warnock says Supreme Court's voting rights decision "poured fuel on this redistricting arms race" [View all]

Source: CBS News

May 3, 2026 / 12:52 PM EDT


Washington — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia called the Supreme Court's decision last week to strike down Louisiana's congressional map and narrow the Voting Rights Act "a massive and devastating blow," while warning of its implications for the redistricting fight.

"The court, sadly, poured fuel on this redistricting arms race," Warnock said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

The ruling was a key victory for Republicans, striking down a map that included two majority-Black districts. And it followed a redistricting battle that began last year when President Trump's political team pushed Texas GOP leaders to redraw the state's congressional map, which sparked a counterpush by Democrats in California and efforts by both parties in other states to redraw their maps.

Warnock, a pastor who's represented Georgia in the Senate since 2021, said he supports the push by Democrats on redistricting "because Donald Trump — who is better at dividing us than anybody I know — instituted an arms race in redistricting.". "I don't like gerrymandering, but we could not unilaterally disarm," Warnock said. "He's the one who called Texas and said, literally, 'give me six more seats.' And so California and other states had to respond, Virginia, in kind."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/raphael-warnock-callais-decision-supreme-court-redistricting-gerrymandering/