11th Circuit slaps down leftist judge Anna Manasco in Alabama.

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The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco on Thursday that barred Alabama from using a State Senate map passed by the legislature in 2021.

Manasco denied a request last week by the State of Alabama to allow Alabama to use the 2021 State Senate redistricting map.

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently struck down a 2023 federal court-ordered Alabama congressional map. Alabama will now use a likely 6-1 Republican-drawn map passed during a 2023 special session. However, the ruling didn't address two State Senate districts caught up in similar litigation.

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Manasco ordered a special master in October to redraw Alabama's State Senate map for the 2026 election. Manasco selected the map dubbed "Remedial Plan 3," submitted by Daniel DiDonato, who is now an 18-year-old University of Alabama undergraduate.

Due to the new court-ordered map, State Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) was running for the District 26 Senate seat rather than the District 25 seat that he currently holds. Barfoot has said his decision was forced by a federal court order that racially gerrymandered legislative districts to unfairly tilt the scales and ensure the election of liberal Democrat legislators. State Sen. Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) announced in January his candidacy for State Senate District 25, rather than his current district, District 26. According to an analysis by the court-ordered special master, the new State Senate map makes State Senate District 25 a blue district in which 15 of 17 past races were won by Democrats. However, District 26, held by Hatcher, is now a district where the Democratic candidate has won only 9 of 17 past races.

However, with the ruling by the 11th Circuit staying the injunction by Manasco, Ivey will likely soon issue a proclamation calling special elections for the District 25 and District 26 seats on August 11. Barfoot and Hatcher will likely seek re-election in their current districts.

The court said in their stay ruling on Thursday, “The district court’s injunctions irreparably harm the state because they prohibit it from conducting the senate elections under the 2021 map approved by the people through their elected representatives.”

“Third, staying the injunctions will not substantially injure the plaintiffs because they have not shown they are entitled to the injunctions. The plaintiffs have not shown that they are likely to succeed on their section two claim after Callais,” U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch and Robert Luck said in their ruling.

U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu dissented from Branch and Luck’s opinion.

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