Photo: Alamy
Tennessee Republicans on Thursday approved a redistricting plan that could provide Republicans with an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The new map could potentially allow all nine of the state’s congressional seats to go to Republicans, eliminating the one seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen.
Cohen represents a majority-Black district that includes the city of Memphis. The vote comes on the heels of last week’s Supreme Court decision, which narrowed the interpretation of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to bar the establishment of congressional districts based on race. The Supreme Court’s ruling would allow states to redraw congressional maps to favor partisan advantage, while limiting challenges based on racial discrimination.
Tennessee lawmakers held hearings this week regarding the proposed map. Witnesses included activist and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Representative Cohen, who argued in favor of preserving his current seat. The debate centered on whether the new map was being drawn according to partisan or racial considerations.
Republicans argued the redistricting plan was meant to secure a party advantage in the upcoming midterms and was not done on the basis of race. Democrats argued that by dividing up the district representing Memphis, one of the country’s largest majority-Black cities, the map would deprive black voters of adequate representation.
Despite pushback and some activity from protestors, the plan passed both chambers of the state legislature, with the House voting 64-25 and the state Senate 25-5. It will now move to Gov. Bill Lee’s (R) office for approval.
President Trump previously expressed his strong approval of the plan in Tennessee, saying it would correct an “unconstitutional flaw” and help protect the slim GOP majority in the upcoming midterm elections. “This should give us one extra seat, and help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization, Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more,” President Trump said. “Thank you Governor Lee — PUSH HARD!”
