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Discussions over Louisiana's congressional districts heat up at Capitol
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BATON ROUGE — Several lawmakers met at the Louisiana Capitol on Friday to discuss the redrawing of congressional maps as the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's current maps are racially gerrymandered.
Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order suspending the U.S. House primary elections on April 30, leading to several lawsuits being filed as people claimed that mail-in ballots had already been cast.
While no voting happened in Friday's meeting, public testimony got intense as State Senator Gary Carter Jr. asked whether votes had already been counted at the time of the suspension. The committee refused to answer his question.
The meeting turned into a screaming match as Carter suggested that the bills being proposed by Senator Jay Morris were discriminatory.
"He suggests that he's not racist. I suggest we take a look at his work," Carter said as officials on the committee attempted to turn off his microphone.
Protestors against the maps that would remove the second majority minority district began chanting as bills were discussed. At one point, the protestors attempted to enter the room, preventing members of the press from leaving.
Jay Morris issued a statement saying he did not "use any profanity or any derogatory or pejorative term in referring to anyone in the audience at today’s Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee at the State Capitol," claiming he said "you all need to shut up."
However, the Louisiana Democratic Party said Morris told Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Dadrius Lanus "Shut up boy!”
"As a result, the Louisiana Democratic Party will formally submit a request to the Office of the President of the Louisiana State Senate seeking appropriate disciplinary action and sanctions against Senator Morris," the party said in a statement.
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