Black residents worry new Louisiana congressional district could be lost in Supreme Court case

BATON ROUGE, La. -- BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For nearly three decades, the small town of Mansfield was represented in Louisiana’s congressional delegation by white Republicans, even though its population is about 80% Black and leans heavily Democratic. That changed with the election last year of U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields , a Black Democrat who was able to win after a newly drawn political map carved out a second Black majority congressional district in the state. Mansfield Mayor Thomas Jones Jr. said he and others finally feel as if their communities are being represented in the nation’s capital. “We feel connected, like we have somebody that’s helping us,” he said. Fields’ seat, and what Jones describes as the benefits of having him in Washington, might disappear depending on how the U.S. Supr