On the first day of the session, a Republican-led rules committee brushed aside a Democratic attempt to slow down the process.
A group of protesters in the room stood up and began singing the “Star Spangled Banner” while some shouted obscenities at committee members.
Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about the plan to divide Memphis’ congressional representation.
“This decision undermines the work that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote, noting that his father was assassinated in Memphis. He added: “Do not dismantle the only Congressional district that provides Black voters in Memphis a fair opportunity to have a voice in our democracy. Do not take this nation back to the days of Jim Crow.”
The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM