A three-judge federal panel declined to block Tennessee’s newly revised congressional districts, allowing them to proceed for use in the state’s August primary elections. Tennessee had redrawn its districts in May following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened protections under the federal Voting Rights Act for minority voters.
The new map redistributes the Memphis-based majority-Black district that had been represented for roughly two decades by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, spreading the area across portions of three different districts. Cohen subsequently announced he would not seek reelection. Opponents of the redistricting had challenged it in court, arguing that Republican lawmakers who approved the plan were motivated at least partly by racial discrimination in violation of constitutional protections.
The three judges—two appointed by President Donald Trump and one by former President Barack Obama—stated in their ruling that plaintiffs lacked direct evidence of racial motivation. The opinion noted that political considerations readily explained the map’s effects, stating “the road to a reliably 9-0 map runs through Memphis.” Republicans have contended they were motivated solely by partisan advantage, seeking to flip the lone Democratic-held seat among Tennessee’s nine districts, which is permitted under a 2019 Supreme Court decision.
Adversaries of the redistricting expressed concern about the outcome. Amber Sherman, a Memphis voter and lawsuit plaintiff, said the ruling was “painful” and that voters deserve equal opportunity to shape their representation. An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project argued that a majority-white legislative body had destroyed the state’s primary area of Black political power in federal elections.
The redistricting effort reflects broader Republican strategies across eight GOP-led states to redraw districts following the Supreme Court’s late April decision invalidating a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana. President Trump has encouraged such mid-decade redistricting efforts as a potential tool to help Republicans maintain their House majority in the November elections.
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