Tennessee and Alabama take steps to redraw House maps in wake of Supreme Court ruling
The Republican governors of Tennessee and Alabama referred to as state legislators into particular classes on Friday, preliminary steps in what may very well be a scramble throughout a number of southern states to redraw congressional maps after the Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act.
Depending on how state officers proceed and whether or not courts intervene, legislators could attempt to break up up Tennessee’s sole Democratic district and remove one of Alabama’s two blue seats.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee agreed to a particular session that can begin Tuesday, writing in a statement Friday that legislators “owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters.”
Lee stated any modifications to Tennessee’s map “must be enacted as soon as possible.” The state has primaries scheduled for Aug. 6 in this 12 months’s congressional elections, though the deadline for candidates to qualify for the first poll was in March.
GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who’s working for governor of Tennessee, has called on state legislators to draw a map that offers Republicans an edge in all 9 of the state’s congressional districts, splitting up the Memphis-area district held by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen. President Trump has strongly urged Lee to redraw the state’s map to give Republicans “one extra seat.”
Meanwhile in Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey called a special legislative session beginning Monday to probably schedule particular major elections if a brand new House map is carried out.
Ivey stated she desires the state to be “prepared should the courts act quickly enough” for the House map to be modified in time for this 12 months’s elections. The state’s primaries are set for May 19, and the deadline for candidates to file was in January.
Alabama faces an advanced scenario due to years of litigation over its congressional districts. The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that Alabama’s House map violated the Voting Rights Act, and later that 12 months, a three-judge panel rejected another map that was created by state legal guidelines. TO court-appointed expert then drew a recent map, ensuing in two House districts the place Black voters make up a good portion of the citizens, each held by Democrats.
If permitted by the courts, Ivey stated she is aiming to return to the state legislature’s 2023 map, which had one majority-Black, Democratic-leaning House seat.
Under a courtroom injunction issued final 12 months, Alabama’s current map is required to remain in place till after the 2030 Census. But state Attorney General Steve Marshall on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to vacate the lower court ruling that struck down legislators’ 2023 map, citing the excessive courtroom’s determination earlier this week.
The gambit was made potential by the Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday in Louisiana v. Shut up. In a 6-3 ruling, the excessive courtroom struck down a Louisiana map that features two majority-Black House districts, upholding a decrease courtroom ruling that discovered state dominated based mostly too closely on race.
Louisiana officers reacted Thursday by moving to suspend its House primaries scheduled for later this month, probably setting the stage to draw a brand new map.
But the ruling’s impacts are anticipated to stretch properly past Louisiana as a result of, in impact, it narrowed a portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that had beforehand been interpreted to require states to draw districts the place minority teams make up a majority in some circumstances. Now, districts solely violate the Voting Rights Act when there’s a “strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the bulk opinion.
Beyond Alabama and Tennessee, legislators in Mississippi are planning to maintain a particular session to redraw the state’s Supreme Court districts. Some state officers have additionally urged redrawing the state’s US House maps to unseat Democratic Rep. Benny Thompson, though it could be too late for this 12 months as a result of Mississippi has already held its primary elections.
Florida has additionally moved to redraw its House maps and give the GOP an edge in 4 extra seats, an effort that was launched prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Well earlier than this week’s rulings, a number of states had launched uncommon mid-decade redistricting efforts forward of the hotly contested 2026 midterm elections.
Texas legislature shifted five Democratic districts towards the GOP final summer season, and California reacted by transferring 5 of its Republican-held districts leftward. Missouri and North Carolina moved one Democratic district apiece to the suitable, and final month, Virginia voters approved a measure to create 4 new districts that favor Democrats.
