NASHVILLE, TN– Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are preparing to take up a plan Thursday that could split a majority-Black congressional district, reshaping it in favor of the GOP as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to try to retain a slim House majority in November’s midterm elections.
Tennessee’s redistricting effort is one of many plans advancing rapidly in Southern states as Republicans try to cash in. US Supreme Court ruling That weakened the federal Voting Rights Act.
The court ruled that Louisiana It relied heavily on race When creating a majority black second district in the House of Representatives while trying to comply with federal law. The Supreme Court’s decision changed a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans reasons to try to overturn it Majority black areas That elected Democrats.
Louisiana postponed its congressional primary to give state lawmakers time to draft a new House map. Legislation awaiting a final vote in Alabama would also upend the state’s congressional primaries if courts allow the state to change U.S. House districts. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Republican lawmakers, urged on by Trump, have taken tentative steps to add congressional redistricting to their agenda.
The states are the latest to join an already ferocious situation The national redistricting battle. Since Trump urged Texas to redraw US House districts last year, eight states have adopted new congressional districts. Of that, Republicans believe they may gain up to 13 seats while Democrats believe they may gain up to 10 seats. But some competitive races mean parties may not get everything they sought in the November election.
Protesters in Tennessee repeatedly boycotted Wednesday’s legislative hearings on redistricting plans, but Republicans put them up for a possible final vote in the full House and Senate.
The package of bills would repeal a state law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting and reopen the candidate qualification window for new people to enter primaries and existing candidates to switch districts. The proposed House map would split Tennessee’s only Democratic-controlled district, centered on the majority black city of Memphis, creating a ripple effect of gerrymandering throughout the western and central parts of the state.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data.
Democrats and civil rights activists denounced these efforts.
The proposal “is a dilution of the black vote on an industrial scale,” said Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is part of the Tennessee NAACP chapter.
Democrats noted that the state Supreme Court rejected in April 2022 a challenge to the current congressional map, considering it… Very close to the elections To make changes. Democrats said there is less time this year before the Aug. 6 primary, increasing the potential for confusion for both candidates and voters.
The Alabama House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation allowing special congressional primaries, as Republicans eye the possibility of creating a different congressional map in preparation for the November elections. The bill could receive a vote in the Senate by Friday.
Alabama is seeking to overturn a federal court order that created a second House district with a close majority of black voters. That map led to the election of Rep. Shomari Vigers, a Black Democrat, in 2024. Republicans instead want to use a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers that would give the GOP a chance to reclaim Vigers’ district.
The legislation won approval on a party-line vote after four hours of fiery debate during which Black lawmakers recalled the state’s history. Democratic state Rep. Gwandalyn Givhan likened the legislation to poll taxes and counting jelly beans in a jar — a nearly impossible task that was used to suppress Black voters during the Jim Crow era.
“It is a calculated political maneuver born of fear, fear of Black people and more importantly of Black political power,” Givan said.
The Alabama primary will be held on May 19. If the court grants the state’s request, the legislation would ignore the results of congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule new primaries under the revised districts.
The South Carolina Senate could adopt a resolution on Thursday that would give lawmakers permission to return later, after they finish their regular work, to redraw congressional districts that could eliminate the state’s only Democratic-controlled district. The proposal, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
House Republican leaders said after the vote that they plan to present a new map on Thursday and hold committee meetings on Friday. But during Wednesday’s debate, Republicans resisted specific questions from Democrats, including why they were willing to halt the June 9 U.S. House primary so long after candidates had been filed, and how much a rescheduled primary could cost.
Democratic Representative Justin Bamberg said he feels sorry for Republicans who, he said, are abandoning their principles to follow Trump’s whims.
“The president of the United States is a very powerful man. He holds a heavy thumb on Truth Social,
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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Collins of Columbia, South Carolina; Lieb is from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press reporter Christine M. Hall contributed.