State House Speaker Tim Moore has filed to run for Congress next year in a district that a federal lawsuit claims has been racially gerrymandered by GOP lawmakers.
A group of Black and Latino voters claims legislators in the Republican-controlled state legislature purposely redrew political boundaries in four districts through and around minority communities for partisan benefit.
Lawmakers redrew district maps after the GOP-majority state Supreme Court tossed out a 2022 finding that previous Republican-drawn maps were unconstitutionally gerrymandered on the basis of excessive partisanship.
At his candidate filing on Tuesday, Moore insisted the GOP-led redistricting process followed the law and, "That the legislature went through to draw these districts, to not take race into account whatsoever."
A lawsuit in state court is also challenging a state Senate district map on the basis of racial gerrymandering.