A map with a second majority-Black district gained approval by both Louisiana’s House and Senate this week. This comes after a federal judge ordered a new congressional map that more accurately reflects the state’s demographics. 

State politics reporter Molly Ryan and The Times Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace join us to discuss the session and what might happen next.

Closed primaries — where only members of that political party can vote — are common across the country.  But Louisiana abandoned this method in 1971 in favor of a jungle primary, where all candidates face one another on the same ballot and everyone votes regardless of party affiliation.

Now, Gov. Jeff Landry wants to return to a closed primary, citing simplicity and fairness. 

Robert Collins, professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University breaks down the key differences between the primary systems and discusses the potential political agendas attached to each. 

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Bob Pavlovich. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman. 

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12 and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

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