Heeding a call from President Trump to give Republicans more seats in Congress, Tennessee’s GOP-led statehouse voted Thursday to carve Memphis into three reliably red districts.
The NAACP quickly filed a legal challenge to the new maps.
Democrats in both chambers staged walkouts as the measure passed. Three protesters from Memphis were arrested for refusing to clear the balcony at the House Speaker’s discretion, including the brother of Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, who had been running for congress in Memphis’s former 9th Congressional District.
“These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacists in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump,” Pearson said. “What you are doing today is eviscerating the only Black-majority congressional district in our state because we are majority Black.”
Pearson, along with other Black lawmakers in the House, pointed to the historical obstacles Black voters have faced.
“This map was drafted based on politics, based on population and the opportunity for the first time in history for us to send an entire Republican delegation from Tennessee to represent the state in Washington, D.C.,” said Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knox.
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Sen. John Stevens, R-Hungtingdon, who sponsored the new maps, said that Democrats in Illinois, Massachusetts and other states have also redrawn congressional districts to favor their party.
“This bill represents Tennessee’s attempt to maximize our partisan advantage,” he said.
Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, said the move will hurt Memphis voters and threaten democracy.
“You cannot take a majority Black city, fracture its voting power and then tell us race has nothing to do with it,” she said.
NashVillager Podcast: The Congressional maps just keep on changing
As Democrats walked out of the Tennessee House in protest, demonstrators set off dozens of noise devices and dropped them into hard-to-reach places in the gallery.
Republicans alter elections
In addition to drawing new districts, Tennessee Republicans dropped a requirement that voters get a notice in the mail if their polling place changes because of re-drawn maps. The general assembly now says local governments can simply post to a public website.
The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government released a statement, saying, in part: “Voters need more information, not less, if their voting location and precinct is changing.” The group says that’s especially important when lawmakers make changes as quickly as they have this week.
To pave the way for the new map, lawmakers also changed a law dating back 50 years that banned mid-decade redistricting.
And lawmakers are reopening the candidate qualifying window until May 15 — essentially one week — to allow time for new people to enter the U.S. House primaries, and for existing candidates to switch districts or drop out.
Officials react to historic change
In statements after the session, Republican leaders touted their work.
“We have passed a fair and legal congressional map that reflects the longstanding conservative character of Tennessee. The direction of our country hangs in the balance in the upcoming election. The fight for control of Congress is a civilizational struggle for the future of our economy, the security of our communities and the strength of our nation,” wrote Senate Speaker Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge.
“This week, Tennessee joined other red and blue states in redrawing their congressional maps. We have accomplished the Governor’s call for this special session. I am proud of the dedication shown by House and Senate members in coming together to pass meaningful, effective legislation for the benefit of all Tennesseans,” wrote House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville.
The Tennessee Democratic Party criticized the outcome for diluting “the voice of black Memphians.”
“That congressional leaders would vote to disenfranchise one of the few remaining sources of representation for Tennessee’s Black communities is, sadly, no surprise. History has a way of repeating itself when those in power refuse to learn from it. This is nothing less than a modern-day revival of Jim Crow, proving that racism remains deeply embedded in the fabric of our political systems,” wrote Tennessee Democratic Party Black Caucus Chair Solomon Trapp.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing story last updated at 5:25 p.m.
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