GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who’s running for governor of Tennessee, is calling on the state to add a Republican to its congressional delegation.
“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America,”she posted Wednesday on social media. “I’ve vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I’ll do everything I can to make this map a reality.”
New congressional districts were signed into law in 2022 after passing both chambers of the Tennessee Legislature in party-line votes, taking effect for that year’s elections.
Republicans targeted the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, splitting it across three Republican congressional districts. Memphis remained blue, however.
Memphis has a majority-Black population, and any effort to crack its congressional district would almost certainly face Voting Rights Act scrutiny.
In December, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the state legislative maps, reversing a county court ruling that struck down the state Senate map, declaring it unconstitutional. The state’s highest court’s ruling also upheld a lower court’s decision that declared the 2022 House redistricting map as constitutional.
Tennessee statute seemingly prohibits redrawing congressional lines mid-decade, though the Legislature could alter that statute if it chose. The state gave itself flexibility on state maps but tied its own hands on congressional maps — while leaving the door open to untie them if the Legislature really wanted to. But any redistricting in Memphis would likely face a legal obstacle.
States have been waging a mid-decade redistricting battle at the behest of President Trump, who is seeking to hold onto the GOP’s slim majority in the Senate, 53 to 45, with two independents caucusing with Democrats, and an even narrower grip on the House, with a 218 to 215 majority.
Seven states — California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia — have new congressional maps, many of which were drawn up in response to the president’s call to action or Democrats’counteractive measures. But litigation is stalling multiple maps.
