Tennessee's Republican-controlled legislature approved new congressional maps Thursday that eliminate the state's sole Democratic district, a Black-majority seat centered in Memphis that has been held by Rep. Steve Cohen. The move leaves all nine of Tennessee's congressional districts leaning Republican heading into the midterm elections.
The redraw carves up Shelby County, home to Memphis, splitting the majority-Black city into three separate Republican-leaning districts. House Speaker Cameron Sexton defended the maps as drawn according to population and political data rather than racial considerations. Democrats flatly rejected that characterization.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat from Memphis running for Congress, delivered a blistering response on the statehouse floor. "These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump," Pearson said, framing the redistricting as an assault on the civil rights legacy in a state founded on slavery and segregation.
The protest reflects deeper Democratic concerns that gerrymandering Memphis dilutes Black political power and nullifies decades of civil rights gains won through the voting rights movement. Fierce demonstrations erupted at the state capitol as lawmakers voted.
Tennessee's action follows a seismic Supreme Court decision last week in Callais v. Landry that gutted a critical section of the Voting Rights Act. In a 6-3 partisan ruling, the court effectively disabled Section 2 of the 1965 law, the last major provision preventing racial discrimination in voting and redistricting. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, declared that allowing race to factor into government decision-making constitutes an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, even when done to protect minority voting power.
The ruling opened the floodgates across the Republican South. Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina have already begun moving toward new maps that were previously blocked or constrained by the Voting Rights Act. Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign Tennessee's map into law imminently, cementing the shift before the midterm cycle.
Author James Rodriguez: "The Supreme Court just handed southern Republicans a roadmap to reshape the political landscape, and Tennessee isn't wasting any time."
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