Tennessee enacts congressional redistricting map favoring Republicans

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a new congressional redistricting map May 7 that splits the state’s only majority-black district, a move that could help Republicans win all nine U.S. House seats in the state. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the map into law shortly after it cleared both chambers. 

The measure, advanced during a special session called by Lee, divides the Memphis-based 9th Congressional District among three districts. The district seat, long held by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, is the only one in Democratic hands. 

Before voting on the map, lawmakers repealed a 1972 state law that barred mid-decade redistricting outside the normal decennial census cycle, clearing the way for the proposal. 

According to The Hill, the House passed the map 64-25, with three Republicans abstaining, and the Senate approved it 25-5, largely along party lines. AP News reported that Lee promptly signed the map into law later that day.

The move follows an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling tightened the legal standard governing when states may draw majority-minority districts under the Voting Rights Act and has prompted renewed redistricting efforts in several other red states, Zeale News previously reported. 

>> GOP-led states accelerate redistricting push after Supreme Court ruling <<

After the high court’s decision, President Donald Trump said in an April 30 Truth Social post that he’d had a “very good conversation” with Lee, who said he would “work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw” in Tennessee’s congressional maps. 

According to the New York Post, Republicans could gain as many as 14 U.S. House seats through redistricting efforts in several states, compared with 10 for Democrats, although many proposed maps still face legal challenges.

Democrats currently hold 212 seats rated “safe” or “likely” by 270toWin, while Republicans hold 205, leaving 18 seats rated as “toss-ups” in the 435-member House. A party needs 218 seats to control the House.