Tennessee approves GOP House map drawing out lone Democrat seat

Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday passed a GOP-friendly map that carves up the state’s only majority-Black House seat and threatens the lone Democrat in the Volunteer State’s nine-member congressional delegation.

The Tennessee House and Senate approved the new map on Thursday after first voting to repeal the state’s 56-year prohibition on mid-decade redistricting, a necessary step before lawmakers could move forward with the proposal.

The new map splits Rep. Steve Cohen’s (D-Tenn.) Memphis-based 9th Congressional District — the state’s only majority-Black district — into three congressional districts, while further dividing Nashville into five.

The House passed the map in a 64-25 vote, with three Republicans abstaining. The Senate later passed the measure, 25-5, largely along party lines.

The bills now head to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s (R) desk for his signature. 

The governor called this week’s special session amid President Trump’s renewed push for Republican-led states to move forward with mid-decade redistricting ahead of November’s midterms. 

Trump and Republicans scored a victory last week when the Supreme Court declared Louisiana’s congressional map an illegal gerrymander and ordered the state to redraw its lines, putting at least one of the state’s two Democratic seats in jeopardy.

After the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had a “very good conversation” with Tennessee’s governor, “wherein he stated that he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee.” A day later, Lee called a special session to review the state’s congressional map.

State lawmakers convened Tuesday and held committee hearings on Wednesday to consider the maps and related legislation. The committees heard........

© The Hill