Tennessee Moves to Eliminate State’s Only Black-Majority District Hours After Supreme Court Ruling

Within hours of the Supreme Court's decision weakening federal voting rights protections, Tennessee Republican lawmakers pushed through new congressional maps that eliminate the state's only district with a Black majority electorate. Governor Bill Lee signed legislation Thursday repealing a 50-year-old prohibition on mid-decade redistricting, clearing the path for the Republican-controlled legislature to approve the new district boundaries.

The maps target Tennessee's 9th Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Steve Cohen and covering portions of Memphis where roughly 63 percent of residents are Black. Under the approved boundaries, the district would be carved into three pieces, each drawn to contain a white majority and a Republican-leaning electorate. The move effectively dismantles the state's sole reliably Democratic seat and the only district where Black voters have previously held decisive influence over electoral outcomes.

The timing aligns directly with the Supreme Court's ruling, which legal experts warned would embolden states to test the remaining boundaries of federal voting protections. Civil rights organizations have indicated plans to challenge the maps in federal court, arguing they violate constitutional equal protection guarantees and surviving provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The rapid succession of the Court's decision and Tennessee's action underscores how quickly state legislatures can capitalize on narrowed federal oversight to reshape electoral maps.