Tennessee Democrats and civil rights groups are challenging a new Republican-backed congressional map that breaks up the state's only majority-Black district, with the NAACP filing suit hours after Gov. Bill Lee signed the plan into law Thursday.
The map divides the current 9th Congressional District, centered on Memphis and represented by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, into three districts. Democrats say the plan dilutes Black voting power and could leave Tennessee with no Democratic representation in Congress after the 2026 elections.
During debate, Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, who is running for Congress in the district being dismantled, accused Republicans of targeting Memphis for political and racial reasons, as ABC News reports:
"This is about attacking, targeting and cracking District 9 into pieces for more political and racial dominance and white supremacy in the state of Tennessee. And we need to realize that the Callais decision that you all are basing your decisions off of that gutted the Voting Rights Act, that that Voting Rights Act was paid in blood"
Republicans defended the map as a partisan redistricting effort made possible after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened a key section of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais. Republican state Sen. John Stevens said the goal was to "maximize our partisan advantage" and help preserve a Republican majority in Congress.
"Tennessee is a conservative state, and I submit its congressional delegation should reflect that," Stevens said.
Democratic lawmakers rejected the argument that the map was only about party politics. State Sen. London Lamar said the plan "does not reflect Memphis" and instead "diminishes Memphis."
"You cannot take a majority-Black city, fracture its voting power and then tell us race has nothing to do with it," Lamar said. "Racism does not become less racist because it's called partisan."
The legislative session was marked by protests, with demonstrators chanting "Hands off Memphis!" and police clearing the House gallery before the vote. One lawmaker unfurled a banner reading "No Jim Crow 2.0 — Stop the TN Steal."
The NAACP Tennessee State Conference filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking to block the map. The group argues the redistricting process violated the Tennessee Constitution and state law, including limits on legislative business during special sessions.
"It is a direct attack on our democracy and our Constitution to dismantle majority-Black districts," said Kristen Clarke, NAACP general counsel. "A democracy without Black representation is not a democracy."
Cohen also said he plans to sue, writing that Trump and Tennessee Republicans were trying to "rig the game" ahead of the midterms.
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