Tennessee weighs redistricting map that could flip Memphis seat red

Tennessee’s redistricting special legislative session on Tuesday will weigh a map that would potentially turn the state’s lone blue district red before the 2026 midterms.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who is term-limited and leaves office after this year, moved quickly to call the special session after meeting with President Donald Trump last week on the heels of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that race should not be used to dictate the drawing of legislative district maps.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure that our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters.” Lee wrote in a statement:He announced the session after Trump called, expressing the urgency of “meeting mandatory election qualification timelines” and making sure a new map “is enacted as quickly as possible.”

“After consulting with the Lieutenant Governor, Speaker, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible.”

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Notably, the map was introduced Wednesday by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the leading candidate to succeed Gov. Lee, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Louisiana v. The decision in the Callais case.

“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis,” Blackburn wrote, sharing an image of the new Tennessee map that could give Republicans a 9-0 lead in the House delegation in X. “It is crucial to solidify @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and America’s Golden Age.

“I promised to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor I will do everything in my power to make this map a reality.”

While Lee said he made this decision after consulting with Lt. Governor Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Secretary of State Tre Hargett, he also received encouragement from Blackburn and Trump after the Supreme Court decision.

“I had a very nice conversation with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee this morning and he stated that he will work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, a day after Blackburn’s post and a day before Lee’s special session announcement. “Likewise, every other Political Representative of Tennessee has pledged to do this as well. This will give us an extra seat and help save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats and their Policies that are destroying their Country’s High Tax Policies, Open Borders, Transgender Sterilization, Defunding the Police, ICE and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more.”

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee is term-limited at the end of this year, but he has called for a special session of the state to consider redistricting Memphis to include some rural areas for the 2026 midterm elections. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Louisiana v. Callais struck down the Louisiana congressional map that created a second majority-black district and narrowed the use of race in redistricting under Article 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The decision led other Republican-led states in the South, including Alabama, to reconsider their congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., a Memphis Democrat who would see his district potentially transform into a more Republican-friendly district, acknowledged that the new map could exclude him from Congress because Memphis’ Black voter base is not isolated from surrounding rural areas.

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“This transparent effort to create a seat for a member of Congress who will put his stamp on Trump’s increasingly outlandish and dangerous agenda will also render irrelevant the black vote in Tennessee,” Cohen wrote in a statement. “I have consulted with voting rights attorneys and other experts on all political and legal options to combat this movement. The filing deadline for candidates for the 120th Congress has passed. If the General Assembly changes district maps, candidates already seeking office in one district could find themselves in the absurd position of running for office in another—a wholesale injustice to voters and a mockery of democracy.”

“Republican state lawmakers clearly have the votes to make this Machiavellian move,” he added. “I hope justice is part of their thinking and they give it up.”

Rep. Steve Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., could potentially see his district become friendlier to Republicans starting with the midterm elections in November. (Getty Images)

Blackburn responded to Cohen’s righteous anger on Monday.

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“Since Wednesday’s decision, Liberals have complained that redrawing the lines would create a ‘lack of representation’,” Blackburn wrote to X. “Funny, you’ve never heard a liberal complain about the lack of conservative representation in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Hawaii or Delaware.”

Cohen acknowledged that the new map may be inevitable and framed it as a short-term map to potentially delay the fight’s use after the midterms.

“I think maybe it could be delayed until 2028, but after 2028 it’s over,” Cohen said. WMC Action News 5 Sunday in Memphis.

He compared the potential Memphis changes to the redrawing of the Nashville district after the 2020 census, saying that Nashville was split into three districts and was left without a resident member of Congress in the city.

Republican lawmakers who control the General Assembly will have a majority say in the special session that begins Tuesday.

“Tennesseans have made clear that they want strong borders, a strong economy and common-sense leadership—not failed policies from Washington Democrats,” state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Williamson County, told WMC. he said.

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“We have been presented with a critical opportunity to send another Tennessee Republican to Washington who will support President Trump and prevent radical Democrat Hakeem Jefferies from becoming the next speaker. We will not let this opportunity pass.”