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On Wednesday, Tennessee state Republican lawmakers proposed a new congressional map that would lessen the already small Democratic representation in the state and eliminate Black political power within the delegation sent to Washington.
The move comes after the federal Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that enforcement mechanisms from lower courts for the Voting Rights Act (VRA) — including rulings requiring state map-drawers to draw Black-majority districts when relevant — were unconstitutional, a drastic decision that many legal experts contend essentially dismantled the law altogether.
Currently, Tennessee has nine House seats. Because of the previous rulings regarding the VRA, one Black-majority seat was drawn in Memphis and its surrounding areas. That resulted in one Democratic district, with the remaining eight seats in Republican control.
Although Tennessee is considered a deeply red state, the congressional delegation as it stands now is still disproportionately Republican relative to how the state votes. Indeed, while 34 percent of the state voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, only 11 percent of the congressional delegation is represented by a Democrat.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Republican Gov. Bill Lee called a special session on redistricting, and the Republican-controlled state legislature convened this week. On Wednesday, they released their proposal for a new congressional map. The new boundaries divide the Memphis area into three separate Republican-leaning districts, resulting in what will likely become a 9-0 Republican delegation in this fall’s midterm races.
State Sen. Jon Stevens (R) sought to defend the blatant gerrymander by claiming it was what voters wanted.
“Tennessee is a conservative state, and our congressional delegation should reflect that,” Stevens said, ignoring that the previous map was not representative of voters in the state and that the new map would be even more politically disproportionate.
Since the special session opened, hundreds of demonstrators have gone to the state capitol building in Nashville daily to protest the redrawing of the maps.
Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee lambasted the proposal as being a partisan redistricting scheme that took away Black Tennessean voices in Congress.
“History will not look back kindly on you when you had an opportunity to do what was right and you chose to do something else,” said state Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari, who represents the Memphis area.
“This is insane. The GOP’s newly proposed TN Congressional maps would have people in Shelby County all the way to Williamson County — 200+ miles apart — being ‘represented’ by the same Congressman,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D), whose district is the one being drawn out of existence by Republicans.
“It’s a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the Black community’s and our entire city’s voice,” Cohen added.
“By again bending the knee to a corrupt, lame duck president desperate for help, our weak-kneed governor is abusing his power to try and rig elections and silence the voice of Tennesseans,” state House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons said, recognizing that the gerrymandering scheme was part of a broader initiative by President Donald Trump to redraw districts ahead of the midterms to help Republicans gain a partisan advantage.
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