Tennessee Democratic Party backs map that splits Memphis into three districts
The Tennessee Democratic Party is facing a redistricting map that splits much of Memphis among three congressional districts, ending a district that had given Black voters in the city a single path to choosing their representative for more than four decades. The change was enacted barely a week after the Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
The map all but guarantees Republicans an additional House seat and dilutes the votes of Black residents. It also places Tennessee in a broader Southern redraw that followed the court's ruling, which gutted enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
Memphis and the Ninth District
For more than four decades, Tennessee's Ninth Congressional District stood as a district in which Black voters in Memphis could choose their representative in Washington. The new legislation wipes that district off the map and splits much of the city into three separate districts.
That shift changes the way Memphis voters enter the next congressional election. Instead of voting in one district that reflected the city's Black electorate, residents are now divided across multiple districts drawn under the new law.
Louisiana and the Court Ruling
The Tennessee action came after the Supreme Court's 6–3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which Republicans believe means they are no longer required to reserve districts for nonwhite voters. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry used emergency powers to suspend a primary election that was already under way so lawmakers could redistrict.
In Louisiana, more than 42,000 voters had already cast ballots in the May 16 primaries before Landry halted the U.S. House races. After stopping those races, he postponed only the House primaries, a move David Becker described as “it’s crushing for morale” and compared to ripping a tablecloth off an already set table.
Southern Redistricting Push
Tennessee's map is part of a wider Republican redistricting push across the South. Alabama Republicans held votes during a tornado watch while a storm flooded the state capitol, South Carolina legislators took an initial step toward gerrymandering Representative James Clyburn's district, and Virginia's highest court struck down a statewide referendum designed by Democrats to give them as many as four additional House seats.
Anneshia Hardy called the response to the Supreme Court ruling “This feels like the echoes of the ‘southern strategy’ of the ’60s” and said, “This is diluting Black political power.” For Memphis voters, the practical result is immediate: the district that once concentrated their influence is gone, and their ballots are now spread across three congressional maps drawn by the state.
