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In Nashville, Tennessee, Republican legislators are preparing to discuss a proposal on Thursday that may reconfigure a predominantly Black congressional district. This move is part of a broader strategy aimed at benefiting the GOP in the upcoming November midterm elections, aligning with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to maintain a slight majority in the House.
The redistricting initiative in Tennessee is among several plans rapidly advancing across Southern states, as Republicans seek to capitalize on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act.
The Supreme Court’s ruling determined that Louisiana’s creation of a second Black-majority congressional district relied excessively on racial considerations, contravening federal law. This decision has altered longstanding interpretations of the law, providing Republicans with the opportunity to potentially dismantle majority-Black districts that traditionally support Democratic candidates.
As a result, Louisiana has delayed its congressional primary to allow time for state lawmakers to devise a new district map. Similarly, in Alabama, pending legislation could disrupt the state’s congressional primaries if courts permit changes to its U.S. House districts. In South Carolina, Republican lawmakers, encouraged by Trump, have initiated efforts to include congressional redistricting in their legislative discussions.
These states represent the latest participants in a heated national redistricting conflict. Following Trump’s encouragement for Texas to revise its U.S. House districts last year, eight states have since adopted new congressional maps. Republicans believe this could net them up to 13 additional seats, while Democrats anticipate gaining as many as 10. However, the presence of competitive races suggests that neither party may fully realize their goals in the November elections.
Tennessee Republicans act despite protests
Protesters in Tennessee repeatedly interrupted legislative hearings Wednesday on the redistricting plans, yet Republicans advanced them for a potential final vote in the full House and Senate.
The package of bills would repeal a state law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting and reopen a candidate qualifying window for new people to enter the primary and existing candidates to switch districts. The proposed House map would break up Tennessee’s lone Democratic-held district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis, creating a ripple effect of alterations to districts throughout the western and central parts of the state.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data.
Democrats and civil rights activists denounced the efforts.
The proposal “is Black vote dilution at an industrial scale,” said Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is part of the Tennessee branch of the NAACP.
Democrats noted that the state Supreme Court in April 2022 rejected a challenge to the current congressional map, finding it was too close to the election to make changes. This year, there’s even less time before the Aug. 6 primary, raising the potential of confusion for both candidates and voters, Democrats said.
Alabama presses for changes to primary
The Alabama House passed legislation Wednesday authorizing special congressional primaries as Republicans eye the possibility of getting a different congressional map in place for the November elections. The bill could receive a Senate vote by Friday.
Alabama is seeking to lift a federal court order that created a second House district with a near-majority of Black voters. That map led to the 2024 election of Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. Republicans want instead to use a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim Figures’ district.
The legislation won approval on a party-line vote after four hours of fiery debate during which Black legislators recalled the state’s history. Democratic state Rep. Juandalynn Givan likened the legislation to poll taxes and counting jelly beans in a jar — a virtually impossible task that was used to suppress Black voters during the Jim Crow era.
“It is a calculated political maneuver born out of fear, a fear that is of Black people and most importantly Black political power,” Givan said.
Alabama’s primaries are May 19. If a court grants the state’s request, the legislation would ignore the results for congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.
South Carolina may add redistricting to its agenda
The South Carolina Senate could take up a resolution Thursday giving lawmakers permission to return later, after their regular work ends, to redraw congressional districts that could eliminate the state’s only Democratic-held district. The proposal, which passed the House on Wednesday, needs a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
Republican House leaders said after the vote that they plan to introduce a new map Thursday and hold committee meetings on Friday. But during debate Wednesday, Republicans fended off specific questions from Democrats, including why they were willing to stop the June 9 U.S. House primary elections well after candidates filed and how much a rescheduled primary could cost.
Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg said he felt sorry for Republicans who, he said, were giving up their principles to follow the whims of Trump.
“The president of the United States is a very powerful man. Wields a heavy, heavy thumb — Truth Social, X, Meta, Instagram. To be honest I don’t envy our Republican colleagues,” Bamberg said.
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