Tennessee Republicans pass new congressional map splitting Memphis
Tennessee’s General Assembly approved a new congressional map on May 7 that splits Memphis and divides the city’s majority Black voters into neighboring districts, intended to eliminate that state’s last Democratic congressional seat.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the state’s new redistricting map into law following a chaotic scene before the assembly’s vote. Democrats and protestors said the map purposely spreads Memphis’ 64%-Black population into three majority-White districts.
“What is being proposed right here is not just a redrawing of districts, it’s the breaking apart of a people,” Tennessee state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said. “It’s a fracturing of history. It’s the dilution of a voice that generations of people bled for, marched for, and died to build.”
Tennessee’s congressional map is the first to be redrawn since a Supreme Court ruling on April 29 weakened the remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, making it tougher for states to create minority-dominated districts. The high court last month voted 6-3 to throw out a congressional map in Louisiana that had been drawn to protect the voting power of Black residents, a decision that limits the landmark civil rights law.
In Tennessee, the newly drawn districts split the state’s 9th Congressional District and carve up Tennessee’s only majority-Black congressional seat into three districts, two of which stretch from Memphis to Williamson County outside Nashville. Meanwhile, Nashville and its surrounding counties have been split into five districts, up from four.
State Republican lawmakers approved the map in a frenzied three-day special session. They repeatedly said that the map was drawn for political expediency, to solidify Republicans’ “partisan advantage.”
“The map was drawn to maximize Republicans’ ability to win nine congressional seats,” Tennessee state Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntington, the bill’s sponsor, said. “The goal of this legislation is to support the National Republican Party’s ability to defend the Republican majority in Congress.”
The move will help fulfill President Donald Trump’s request that Republican-dominated states undertake an unusual mid-decade redistricting to increase the number of GOP-leaning congressional seats in advance of the 2026 elections.
In response, the NAACP of Tennessee filed an emergency petition with the Davidson County Chancery Court, arguing that the congressional redistricting plan passed by state Republicans is illegal.
The petition calls it an “unlawful late-decade congressional redistricting in violation of clear and unambiguous Tennessee statutory law and the mandates of the Tennessee Constitution.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen currently represents the Memphis-based district. He took to social media after the bill was signed into law to show his displeasure and vowed that legal action to appeal would ensue.
“And just like that, the TN GOP voted to enforce a racial gerrymander of Memphis and strip our city of effective representation for decades,” Cohen said in a post on X. “Trump knows he HAS TO rig the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. It’s shameful. Next stop is the courts.”
Chaos ensues during controversial vote
Alarms wailed and shouts of “Don’t do this! Don’t do this!” sent the state House and Senate chambers into chaos as Tennessee Republicans took final votes on a new congressional map.
As the vote was called, Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, jumped onto her desk, shouting and unfurled a white banner that read “No Jim Crow 2.0, stop the TN steal.” Senate Democrats, with all the women dressed in white, stood in the well in defiance. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, a Republican, gaveled the chamber down, but havoc remained.
The House galleries erupted in screams, chants, sirens, and outrage as the vote was taken. Immediately, House Democrats flooded the well. Rep. Justin Jones held a sign that read “we shall overcome white supremacy” and pulled out an air horn. A sound like a fire alarm broke out.
The Trump administration played an unprecedented role in Tennessee’s redistricting. Lee called lawmakers back to redraw the state’s maps in direct response to a call from Trump. And the White House gave feedback on draft maps before they were unveiled to the public.
Before the vote, loud boos resounded as House Republicans arrived and moved through a crowd of protesters from the elevator to the House chamber.
Galleries filled with people holding signs that read “no Jim Crow maps,” “hands off our vote,” and “this will backfire.”
After a handful of disruptions, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, ordered both galleries cleared.
Lawmaker’s brother arrested
KeShaun Pearson, whose brother, Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, had been challenging Cohen in the Democratic primary, refused to leave after being repeatedly told to leave the gallery. State troopers pulled him out of his seat and pushed him down the gallery.
Rep. Pearson arrived shortly after, hugging his brother tightly and encouraging him. When troopers tried to pull them apart, the lawmaker refused to let go, leading officers to attempt to detain him as well.
In the short skirmish, troopers loudly argued with each other regarding detaining Rep. Pearson, with one ultimately shouting, “Let him go! Jesus, let him walk with [his brother].”
The pair were escorted down the gallery steps, through the Capitol, and onto the front steps, where a large van was parked to take KeShaun Pearson and another protester, who Pearson identified as Ashley Webber, to jail.
As KeShaun Pearson was pushed into the van, he held his fist out and shouted, “All power to the people!”
As the van pulled away, Rep. Pearson stood on the steps of the Capitol with tears in his eyes and his fist held up.
Protesters brought noisemakers that were permanently activated and left them in the gallery as they were escorted out. After the chamber cleared, House clerks pulled them apart, stomped on them and eventually soaked them in water until the noises gradually died.
Tennessee Democrats express outrage over new law
Before they passed the new map, Republicans approved a measure to overturn a 56-year-old law that prohibited the legislature from redrawing district lines between censuses.
“We are making a mockery of this body and this state,” state Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, said. “This entire proceeding is illegal.”
“What are laws if we can come in here and break the law?” asked Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville. “We ought to rename this city Washington, Tennessee, because we’re here doing the work of Washington.”
Final votes were held about 28 hours after the GOP-drawn map was unveiled. The Senate vote was 25 to 5. Knoxville Republican state Sens. Richard Briggs and Becky Massey abstained from the vote.
The House vote was 64 to 25 with three members abstaining. Both chambers adjourned just seconds after the final map vote.
Lawmaker burns Confederate flag photo in protest
After the House vote was taken, Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, burned a photo of a Confederate flag in the Capitol rotunda in protest.
Jones said his grandparents fled the South and moved to Chicago “because of racial terror of things like this, where Black folks are not treated as equal citizens in their democracy.”
As lawmakers left the House chamber, state troopers held back a burgeoning crowd who cursed and chanted, “Black power trumps White power.” Troopers cleared the way and eventually formed a line to block off passage down the stairs.
Some demonstrators got in several lawmakers’ faces. One organizer reminded the activists not to touch anyone.
Protestors wrote with chalk on the Capitol steps and plaza: “You killed democracy, shame!,” “The Black vote was lynched today,” and “Freedom died today,” as well as “We are only free under fair representation.”
Legal action over redistricting law expected
Legal challenges are expected imminently. Opponents hope to block the map from taking effect before congressional primary elections in August.
Cohen, the Democratic lawmaker currently overseeing the reconfigured district, told reporters after the vote that he intends to file a lawsuit challenging the new state map.
We’ve been campaigning hard since the filing deadline in March, but since really October. And that’s a First Amendment violation,” Cohen said. “There will be a lawsuit in state court. I will be a plaintiff among others.”