Tennessee Enacts New U.S. House Map Carving Up Majority Black Memphis District
Republicans in Tennessee approved a new U.S. House map Thursday that breaks apart the state’s majority Black Memphis based congressional district, shifting the map in a way that could strengthen GOP control ahead of the November midterm elections.
The vote came during a heated special session as demonstrators chanted from galleries and hallways. Protesters disrupted the Republican led House vote by yelling, chanting and blowing air horns, while others were held back by Tennessee state troopers outside the chamber.
In the Senate, Democratic state Sen. Charlane Oliver stood on her desk with a banner calling the redistricting a “Jim Crow” effort. Other Democratic senators linked arms at the front of the chamber before Republican leadership quickly adjourned the session and sent the map to Gov. Bill Lee, who signed it into law.
Memphis District Split Under New Map
The new map breaks up Tennessee’s lone Democratic held congressional district, which is centered in Memphis. The current 9th District is represented by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and has long been anchored in the majority Black city.
Under the new map, the district would stretch far east before reaching north toward Nashville suburbs, changing the political makeup of the seat and altering districts across western and central Tennessee.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the map was drawn using population and political data, not race. Democrats rejected that explanation.
“You cannot take a majority Black city, fracture its voting power and then tell us race has nothing to do with it,” said state Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat from Memphis.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat from Memphis who is running for Congress, called the maps “racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.”
Republican state Sen. John Stevens defended the map as a partisan move, pointing to Democratic drawn maps in other states.
“This bill represents Tennessee’s attempt to maximize our partisan advantage,” Stevens said.
Also Read: South Carolina Joins Southern Redistricting Push After SCOTUS Ruling
NAACP Files Lawsuit After Map Becomes Law
Not long after Lee signed the map, the NAACP Tennessee State Conference filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the redistricting effort.
The lawsuit argues that Tennessee’s mid decade redistricting violates state law. Lawmakers also approved legislation repealing a state law that prohibited congressional redistricting between census cycles.
Another new law reopens candidate qualifying until May 15, giving candidates time to switch districts, enter races or withdraw before the state’s Aug. 6 primary.
Democrats warned that making such changes this close to the primary could confuse voters and candidates.
Southern States Move After Supreme Court Ruling
Tennessee is the first state to approve new congressional districts after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters.
The ruling centered on Louisiana, where the court said the state relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black majority congressional district in an effort to comply with federal law.
That decision changed how states may interpret voting rights requirements and has opened the door for Republican led states to challenge or remove districts where Black voters have helped elect Democrats.
Louisiana has already postponed its congressional primary to give lawmakers time to draw a new map. Alabama lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow special congressional primaries if courts permit the state to replace its current map. South Carolina lawmakers have also released a proposed map that would split the district long represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.
The latest moves are part of a broader national redistricting fight. Tennessee is now the ninth state to redraw congressional lines since Trump urged Texas Republicans to do so last year.
The state’s primary elections are June 9.
