JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Friday announced he will call a special session for judicial redistricting once the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a Voting Rights Act case that has broad implications for minority representation throughout the country.

During oral arguments last fall, the Supreme Court appeared poised to strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has been used to counter racially discriminatory election practices. A decision in the case, Louisiana v. Callais, is expected before the court’s term ends in June.

Overturning Section 2 would give state legislatures and local governments the opportunity to redraw maps while preventing minority voters from challenging ones that dilute their influence.. A decision wiping out a pillar of the 1965 Voting Rights Act could help Republicans gain seats in the U.S. House by eliminating Democratic-leaning districts that are majority Black or Latino, especially in the South. Most of those redraws would not happen in time for this year’s midterm elections.

The special session proclamation, signed by Reeves on Thursday, relates to a specific case involving judicial districts for the Mississippi Supreme Court. Last August, a federal judge ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court electoral map after finding it violated Section 2 by diluting the power of Black voters.

In his proclamation, Reeves wrote that the lack of a ruling in the Louisiana case “deprived the Mississippi Legislature of its undisputed federally recognized right’ to remedy the Section 2 violation.

The governor in a social media post said he hoped the Supreme Court “will reaffirm the animating principle that all Americans are created equal.” He said the Legislature will convene the special session 21 days after the Supreme Court issues its ruling in the Louisiana case.

We also witnessed moments of majesty. On the fifth day, the Integrity began using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot our astronauts back home. That trajectory led the crew around the Moon, farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone. As the explorers looked upon outer space, they captured stunning images. Among the most remarkable is Earthset, in which Commander Reid Wiseman photographed Earth as it appeared to fall below the horizon of the moon.

When their spacecraft returned to Earth’s atmosphere, the crew was traveling nearly 35 times faster than the speed of sound. Ten minutes later, a series of parachutes began opening. Eventually, the spacecraft’s speed fell to 20 miles per hour, and the crew splashed down into the Pacific Ocean.

Mississippi was once again there to assist. The astronauts were greeted by the USS John P. Murtha, a U.S. military vessel built in the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula. The ship’s amphibious design was suited to welcome the space travelers home—equipped with a helicopter pad, medical facilities, and the communications system needed to locate and recover the astronauts safely. Crucially, the USS Murtha was built with a well deck, a sea-based garage that stored the Integrity on the journey to shore.

Artemis II was a resounding success, paving the way for planned future flights. When the Artemis program returns humans to the moon, Mississippi will be there every step of the way.

Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, represents the state in the U.S. Senate.

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – More than 40 counties in Mississippi are now considered disaster areas amid the ongoing drought across the nation.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the following counties are considered primary drought-struck:

• Adams
• Amite
• Bolivar
• Calhoun
• Claiborne
• Coahoma
• Copiah
• Franklin
• Greene
• Grenada
• Jefferson
• Lafayette
• Leflore
• Lincoln
• Panola
• Perry
• Quitman
• Sunflower
• Tallahatchie
• Wilkinson
• Yalobusha

The USDA is considering these counties contiguous to the drought-struck:

• Carroll
• Chickasaw
• Forrest
• George
• Hinds
• Holmes
• Humphreys
• Jones
• Lawrence
• Marshall
• Montgomery
• Pike
• Pontotoc
• Rankin
• Simpson
• Stone
• Tate
• Tunic
• Union
• Walthal
• Warren
• Washington
• Wayne
• Webster

The department is now offering relief for impacted farmers through low-interest loans to cover production and physical losses.

Farmers have until Dec. 10 to apply for the loans at their local farm service agency.

“Not a lot of farmers are lining up to get another loan, I can tell you that, especially in these days and times,” Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said. “However, it’s something that could help in a critical situation.”

The loans are intended to help pay for essential family living expenses, reorganize farming operations and refinance specific debts, according to the USDA.

Gipson said he’s predicting, based on trends from the U.S. Drought Monitor, that current conditions will eventually trigger other forms of relief, like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.

“It’s going to help farmers be able to purchase hay to keep feeding the cows and keep the herd going,” Gipson said.

The state has already gotten around half of its regular rainfall so far in 2026, making it the 10th-driest year on record to date.

That’s according to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Industry leaders are hoping for more rainfall, but at this point, they expect the disaster list to keep growing.

“We can only pray that the rain will fall before too long,” Gipson said. “We don’t need this dry pattern to continue throughout the entire summer.”

More information on the emergency farm loans is available on the USDA website.

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