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Gulf States Gumbo

The communities caught in the crossfire of redistricting

Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons (center) speaks on a panel on rural prosperity hosted by the AEI-Brookings Institute at Mississippi Valley State University in March 2026.
Elise Catrion Gregg
/
Gulf States Newsroom
Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons (center) speaks on a panel on rural prosperity hosted by the AEI-Brookings Institute at Mississippi Valley State University in March 2026.

On this week’s episode, community engagement reporter Elise Catrion Gregg talks with Greg LaRose, editor of the Louisiana Illuminator, about the local effects of redrawing electoral maps.

Redistricting is playing out across the Gulf South following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Most of the redrawing is occurring at the state level, but local representation is just as vulnerable without protections under the Voting Rights Act.

Elise speaks with local officials in Mississippi about their concerns with redistricting on the horizon, and Greg breaks down what cuts to local representation are already taking shape in New Orleans.

This episode is hosted by Elise Catrion Gregg. The podcast is produced by Matt Bloom, Drew Hawkins, Orlando Flores Jr. and Ryan Vasquez. Joseph King is our social producer. Nellie Beckett is our community engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme.

To get in touch with the team, email connect@gulfstatesnewsroom.org.

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

READ MORE:

As redistricting heats up across the Gulf South, local Mississippi leaders discuss fears of what it could do to communities.