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On Wednesday, Tennessee state Republican lawmakers proposed a new congressional map that would lessen the already small Democratic representation in the state and eliminate Black political power within the delegation sent to Washington.

The move comes after the federal Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that enforcement mechanisms from lower courts for the Voting Rights Act (VRA) — including rulings requiring state map-drawers to draw Black-majority districts when relevant — were unconstitutional, a drastic decision that many legal experts contend essentially dismantled the law altogether.

Currently, Tennessee has nine House seats. Because of the previous rulings regarding the VRA, one Black-majority seat was drawn in Memphis and its surrounding areas. That resulted in one Democratic district, with the remaining eight seats in Republican control.

Although Tennessee is considered a deeply red state, the congressional delegation as it stands now is still disproportionately Republican relative to how the state votes. Indeed, while 34 percent of the state voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, only 11 percent of the congressional delegation is represented by a Democrat.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Republican Gov. Bill Lee called a special session on redistricting, and the Republican-controlled state........

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