May 7, 2026 Story by: Publisher
Tennessee legislatures on Thursday, May 7, approved a plan to split Memphis into three new congressional districts, effectively dismantling the state’s only majority-Black seat.
In addition to redrawing the lines, the legislature will vote on a set of bills to adjust the state’s August congressional primary elections to accommodate the changes.
To make this map possible, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 7001 just hours before the map vote. This bill repealed a 50-year-old Tennessee law that had previously banned “mid-decade” redistricting, allowing Republicans to redraw the lines specifically for the 2026 midterms.
The newly proposed districts would split the U.S. House 9th Congressional District, effectively carving Tennessee’s only majority-Black seat into three separate districts.
Two of these new districts would stretch nearly 300 miles, linking parts of Memphis with Williamson County and other areas outside Nashville. Furthermore, Nashville and its surrounding counties would see their representation further fractured, being split into five districts instead of the current four.
Tennessee Congressional Map: Key changes
New 5th District– Stretches from urban Memphis up the western border to Kentucky, then east into Maury and Williamson counties. Dilutes urban Black voters by grouping them with rural white voters hundreds of miles away.
New 8th District– Takes in northeastern Shelby County (Memphis suburbs) and runs across rural West Tennessee into Perry County. Absorbs suburban Black populations into a deep-red rural district.
New 9th District– Runs along the southern border of Shelby County, then cuts across the state to include Moore County and eastern Maury/Williamson. Eliminates the majority-Black status of the district by stretching it nearly 300 miles across Middle Tennessee.
NAACP Tennessee State Conference challenges Tennessee’s mid-decade redistricting
The NAACP Tennessee State Conference has filed a lawsuit in state court asserting that the General Assembly’s mid-decade redistricting is a violation of the Tennessee Constitution. The petition argues that the redistricting process exceeded the scope of the Governor’s official “Call” for the special session. Under Article III, Section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution, the legislature is strictly limited to acting only on the specific subjects defined by the Governor; the NAACP contends that the Governor’s proclamation did not authorize the repeal of long-standing statutes to facilitate partisan remapping.
Central to the legal challenge is the claim that Republicans engaged in “unconstitutional logrolling” by repealing Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-16-103, a 50-year-old law that mandated redistricting occur only once every ten years following the census. By striking down this protection just moments before passing new maps, the NAACP argues lawmakers bypassed the constitutional “one-subject rule.” The lawsuit maintains that this maneuver was a deliberate attempt to dilute the voting power of Black Tennesseans by dismantling the state’s only majority-Black congressional district and splitting its voters across multiple, predominantly white districts.
NAACP files a federal civil lawsuit in Tennessee
The NAACP has added a federal civil lawsuit to its challenge of new Tennessee redistricting.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the complaint alleges that Tennessee lawmakers intentionally redrew Congressional District 9, a district anchored in Memphis for more than 50 years, to crack the majority Black district across multiple districts, with the intent of eliminating Black voting power and depriving them of a meaningful opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
The lawsuit further asserts that the map was rushed through the legislative process in about 48 hours, with little transparency or meaningful public input, and despite clear warnings that it would undermine Black political power.
Groups seeks court injunction to halt the new map, arguing new district lines are enacted w/ an impermissible discriminatory purpose on the basis of race in violation of the 14th Amendment.
Background
Tennessee lawmakers convened a special legislative session on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, to begin the process of potentially redrawing the state’s congressional districts.
First up was the House Rules Committee at 10 a.m., where House Republicans voted to adopt rules to govern the special session.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee officially issued a proclamation on Friday, May 1, calling for a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
The move makes Tennessee the third Southern state since last week, following Louisiana and Alabama to initiate an emergency overhaul of its political maps in response to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court (Louisiana vs Callais) decision that has upended decades of redistricting law.
A Shift in Legal Standards
The urgent call for a special session, scheduled to begin next week, stems from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. While the Court did not strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) as unconstitutional, it significantly altered the “Gingles test,” the primary legal standard used since 1986 to determine if a map dilutes the power of minority voters.
Governor Lee noted that the “finality” of the federal court’s position requires the Tennessee General Assembly to review its current 1-8 congressional split. “Our goal is to ensure Tennessee’s districts are drawn in a manner that provides constitutional clarity and reflects the latest judicial guidance,” Lee stated in a press release.
Legislative Specifics and Timing
The special session is set to convene with two primary objectives:
- Map Redelineation: Lawmakers must evaluate and potentially redraw the lines of Tennessee’s nine congressional districts to align with the narrowed VRA standards.
- Primary Election Delay: Similar to actions taken in neighboring states, the proclamation includes a provision to move the state’s August primary to a later date to accommodate the new boundaries.
The current map, which was adopted in 2022, famously split Davidson County (Nashville) into three separate districts, effectively eliminating the state’s only Democratic-leaning seat. Analysts suggest that the new SCOTUS standard may provide the GOP-controlled legislature with a stronger legal defense to maintain this configuration, or conversely, may require a more compact Nashville-centric district to satisfy evolving federal requirements.
A Regional Domino Effect
Tennessee’s announcement came just hours after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey took identical steps to postpone primaries and revise maps. Across the South, the 2026 midterm landscape is now in a state of flux:
- Louisiana: Suspended its May primary after the Court struck down its second majority-Black district.
- Alabama: Convening a session to address maps that were previously ordered to include two majority-Black districts, a mandate now cast into doubt by the Callais ruling.
- Tennessee: Seeking to insulate its current 9-0 Republican congressional delegation from pending legal challenges.
The Tennessee General Assembly is expected to gavel in on Monday, with leadership aiming to produce a finalized map within five legislative days.
Source: Office of the Governor (Tennessee), The Hill, The Tennessean
