What comes next after a three-judge U.S. district court panel issued a memo blocking the implementation of the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 special session redistricting plan is anyone’s guess.

The aim of the judges, senior U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer, was to create an additional minority congressional district, in addition to Alabama’s seventh congressional district, which is a long-held Democrat congressional seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham).

A possible unintended consequence of this redistricting approach is it could dilute the voting strength of minority voters in Alabama, who are a reliable Democrat voting bloc. If that is the case, could it create an opportunity for Republicans to gain control of all seven of Alabama’s U.S. House of Representative seats?

According to Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl, the GOP will make an effort to do so if that is the case.

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Wahl suggested all seven of Alabama’s congressional seats could be winnable for Republicans.

“[I]’m an ambitious chairman,” he said. “I like to win elections. The Democrats and the courts need to know that. There is no way in Alabama to draw two minority-majority districts. We would actually be taking away a district that is right now, the majority of the population is a minority. We would be taking that away and trading two high-population minority districts, but neither one would be majority. So, both would be in play for the Republican Party, and you better bet we would plan to win all seven.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.