State Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, sponsored the Republican bill to redraw the maps for the state Senate. (Photo by Alex Tirado/LSU Manship School News Service)
Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, proposed a redistricting bill that would create a second majority-minority district for the Louisiana Supreme Court. (Photo 2 by Alex Tirado/LSU Manship School News Service )
Two weeks of debate, public testimony and pleas from activists for greater minority representation culminated in a 40-minute Senate floor meeting Monday that advanced two Republican bills mostly maintaining the status quo of the state Senate and Supreme Court district maps.
State representatives then voted 82-21 Monday evening to leave the state House with the same number of minority-majority di…