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The General Assembly is expected to quickly approve the map, which slices up Memphis, a majority-Black city that makes up most of the state’s lone Democratic district.
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Tennessee Republicans Aim to Break Up State’s Lone Democratic District
Reporting from the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.
Tennessee Republicans on Wednesday proposed a congressional map aimed at diluting the state’s lone majority-Black district, a swift response to last week’s Supreme Court ruling that weakened a landmark voting rights law.
The new map slices up Memphis, a majority-Black city, and Shelby County into three districts and will most likely give Republicans the ability to flip Tennessee’s lone remaining Democratic seat, which includes the city.
2024 presidential vote margin
Current districts
Proposed districts
Source: Tennessee General Assembly, Associated Press (election results) By Leanne Abraham
Democratic lawmakers, whose opposition means little under a Republican supermajority in the state’s General Assembly, and Black leaders across Tennessee have compared the effort to carve up the Ninth Congressional District to Jim Crow-era voter suppression tactics. They have accused conservatives of a power grab that undermines Black voters in Memphis, who have long favored Democrats.
Republicans, cheered on by President Trump, have rejected those claims. Instead, they have said, they are responding to the Supreme Court ruling, which raised the bar for what constitutes a racial gerrymander under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“This is what it means to be America’s conservative leader,” Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Republican front-runner for governor, said. “Let’s get it done.”
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