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Tennessee Approves New Map Aimed at Flipping the Last ... - GV Wire
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee General Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a new congressional map that slices up Memphis to scatter Black voters into neighboring districts, a move intended to eliminate the state’s last Democratic House seat. It is the first map crafted since the Supreme Court weakened the remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, by making it difficult for states to craft majority-minority districts that would not be considered racial gerrymanders. With Tennessee taking the lead, the ruling has opened a new front, particularly in the South, in a bitter, coast-to-coast redistricting battle ahead of November’s midterm elections. The new map, passed over angry, loud protests that sought to at least slow the vote, splits Memphis and Shelby County into three separate districts, blasting apart the seat of U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee’s last House Democrat. It also aims to shore up the seat of U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican who was facing a well-funded Democratic challenger, by shifting the boundaries around the liberal city of Nashville. Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill. The final vote in the state House exploded into noisy chaos, as Democrats and demonstrators drowned out the final tally with loud noisemakers, yells and alarms. Shortly after, in the state Senate, Republicans faced similar outcries as demonstrators yelled, “hands off Memphis.” Both chambers passed the map largely along party lines, though two Memphis-area Republicans in the House joined Democrats in opposing the measure. Tennessee’s primaries are scheduled for Aug. 6. A lawsuit challenging the new map is widely expected. Leaders of the state legislature, where Republicans hold a supermajority, said they redrew the map based on partisan politics, not race, to comply with the Supreme Court decision. “It was absolutely drafted on politics,” said state Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville. The goal, he said, was to have an entirely Republican delegation. “We’re taking advantage of that as the supermajority in this body,” he said. Democrats, noting that about two-thirds of Memphis voters are Black, said it was a blatant attack on hard-won gains for fair representation in a state shaped by slavery, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. “Perhaps the legislature should explain why Memphis should continue to be part of the state of Tennessee,” said state Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis. He suggested that the city should break away from the s...
Tennessee Republicans pass new map erasing majority-Black US ...
3 hours ago ... Tennessee Republicans on Thursday approved a new congressional map dismantling a majority-Black U.S. House district centered on Memphis, as several other ...
Redistricting fight moves to New York and three southern states
The Supreme Court ruling that gives states more authority to ditch racially gerrymandered districts has spurred last-minute redistricting pushes in Alabama, ...
New Tennessee resolution proposes to restrict timing on ... - Local 12
21 hours ago ... p. Jason Powell has proposed a new House Joint Resolution that would limit when congressional district maps can be redrawn.
