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Redistricting - TPR's In Focus - May 1, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University's Dothan Campus,
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  identifying and preserving historical documents and photographs for research related to the
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  Wiregrass region. More information at troy.edu slash wiregrass archives.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is the news wrap from In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. Todd
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  Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's Capital Journal, explores the question of
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  congressional redistricting in Alabama. And the wild card goes under the water this week.
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  Todd, what's the hot topic this week? Well, the Supreme Court's ruling
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  impacting the Voting Rights Act. So this case came out of Louisiana, a redistricting case,
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  kind of like Alabama's. A couple years ago, Alabama was at the Supreme Court arguing for
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  its maps. This is kind of like the opposite case, where they passed a map that was intended to have
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  a majority-minority district, as the lower courts have said is necessary for years. But voters
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  challenged it, saying this is an unconstitutional gerrymander. And if you look at the district that
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  they drew, it really is. I mean, it stretches about 200 miles, and it's kind of like a snake.
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  So they ruled it an unconstitutional gerrymander, but more importantly, ruled that race cannot be
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  used to draw maps. You can't draw a congressional district using race to achieve whatever means
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  you're doing. Well, that's what courts have been demanding for years, because of previous
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  interpretations of the Voting Rights Act. That means you're going to see a lot of different
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  states, particularly in the South, look towards redistricting, because most Southern states have
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  those majority-minority districts, including Alabama. We have two. The question now becomes
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  not if, but when Alabama will redraw its congressional map. A lot of Republicans
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  want to start right away in order to pad the Republican majority this year, because it's
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  kind of at stake. Obviously, the election is May 19th. So ballots have already been printed. Absentee
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  voting is already going on. Maybe more complicating is that because of that Alabama court case I was
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  talking about, in 2023, a federal court ruled that Alabama, because of all that, can't touch
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  its maps, can't go towards redistricting until 2030, when the next census happens. We as a state
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  have been ordered by the federal court not to touch our congressional map until the next census.
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  Unless the court lifts that order, we would be defying a court order. That's why the governor
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  has said, we can't touch this right now. Todd, we need a wild card for relief.
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  Yeah, let's lighten up. Well, this comes from Yahoo. This woman, Nicole Isaacs, in Los Angeles,
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  she's a diver, scuba diver, and a dolphin pulled alongside her boat, and she noticed that this
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  dolphin had been injured and had deep gashes. What the problem was, was this dolphin had been
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  attacked by remoras. Those are the sucking fish. They're parasites and can cause real damage,
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  can kill dolphins. So this lady dives in, she's pregnant by the way, and remove these remoras and
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  really save its life. So I just thought that was a heartwarming story. Dolphins, they're the smartest
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  next to us. So I just think that's really neat. And there's some neat pictures associated with
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  this article too. Heartwarming indeed. Tell me who is on Capitol Journal?
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  We have a special episode of Capitol Journal. We're on location at the Alabama League of
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  Municipalities annual conference. It's the biggest conference they've ever had. 1200 mayors,
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  city council members, municipal employees from all around the state. They gave us special access to
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  this really large convention. So we'll be talking to those mayors, city council members, also the
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  League of Municipalities staff profiling their role in the state. So check it out tonight, 730.
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  So Todd, this is our last day of our public radio spring fun drive. Can you share your
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  thoughts on this? Oh, I'm so glad you asked, and I hope it's gone well. I trust that it has. I know
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  Troy Public Radio enjoys generous and dedicated supporters, as do we at APT. It's just so important
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  to support public broadcasting. It says it in the name. It's public. It belongs to us. The
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  important part of that is taking that ownership and contributing and giving back. And I can tell
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  you that there are so many dedicated people in public broadcasting. They do it because it's an
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  important mission to keep Alabamians informed. So I hope you'll open your pocketbooks and open
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  your checkbooks, as I'm going to do, and contribute to Troy Public Radio. Todd, thank you so very much
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  for the news wrap and for your support of Troy Public Radio. Absolutely. That was Todd Stacy,
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  host of Alabama Public Television's Capital Journal, Fridays at 7.30 p.m., Sundays at noon,
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  and on YouTube. Thanks for joining us for the news wrap from In Focus, which is a podcast wherever
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  you get your podcasts. I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.