The Tennessee Legislature has passed a new congressional map designed to eliminate the state’s sole Democratic-held U.S. House seat. Republican Governor Bill Lee is expected to sign the map into law shortly.
Journalist Nick Sortor noted that “Tennessee’s new maps have PASSED the State Senate, and are on their way to be signed into LAW by Gov. Bill Lee,” adding that “Leftist activists STORMED the Senate chamber and started SCREAMING, but Senators IGNORED them and passed the map.”
The proposed map has carved up a Memphis-based district historically held by Representative Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., into three districts, scattering Democratic voters across rural areas stretching hundreds of miles east. It also further fragments Nashville’s metropolitan area into five distinct districts.
The new boundaries create long-reaching congressional districts that span Tennessee’s geographic regions and combine voters from different media markets and time zones to achieve partisan outcomes. Governor Lee convened lawmakers in a special session this week to address the map ahead of Tennessee’s August 6 primaries. The state House passed the map without any Republican speaking in support, prompting chaos when one member rose to speak: members of the public watching from the gallery began chanting loudly enough for the House speaker to call the vote, leading Democratic members to walk out.
State Senator London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat, condemned the legislation, stating, “This map diminishes Memphis” and adding that “Racism doesn’t become less racist just because it’s called partisan.”
Tennessee concluded its regular legislative session on April 23 but called for a special session following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on April 29 that invalidated a provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring states with histories of racial discrimination—like Tennessee—to draw majority-minority congressional districts. The Supreme Court has consistently held partisan redistricting is legal as long as it serves a partisan purpose. Governor Lee and lawmakers have been urged by President Donald Trump to draft new maps ahead of potential 2026 midterm losses, given the president’s approval rating near 40%—a level similar to 2018 when Republicans lost 41 House seats.
Tennessee has joined a nationwide effort to draw gerrymandered U.S. House districts, following initiatives in at least nine other states. State Senator John Stevens, a Republican from Huntingdon, described the map as ensuring Tennessee’s congressional delegation reflects its conservative values and “maximizes partisan advantage.”
