Memphis voters braved the rain Tuesday morning to vote in the county primary election. As they headed to the polls, lawmakers returned to the state Capitol for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional districts. State Republicans are expected to eliminate the only Democratic-held seat: Memphis’ District 9.
The special session follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a provision of the Voting Rights Act last week. The law had required Tennessee to have at least one congressional district whose population was mostly Black residents.
Now, legislators intend to split up Memphis, so all nine of Tennessee’s congressional districts are majority white. President Donald Trump has urged Tennessee Republicans to flip the state’s last Democratic seat red in order to give the party more seats in Congress before the November midterm elections.
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism reporters headed to voting sites to speak with Memphians about what it will mean to lose their seat in Congress and how redistricting will impact their rights.
Bennita Wade, voting at Raleigh United Methodist Church
“I was here in the ‘60s when (the Voting Rights Act) was passed,” Wade said. “It’s just disturbing. To me, I don’t understand why — I do understand why, though. Why is it that we have to be punished here with no district to vote (in), and we never get a representative of our choice anymore? That’s something that we have that was fought for so hard and so long. So it’s disturbing.
“I don’t know what can be done, but hopefully the people that I voted for will have a voice, and when we vote in August, maybe we can put somebody in who might have a voice, but they’ve stripped all of that away just overnight. We are moving backward, rapidly moving backwards. And with the United States being such a democracy-driven superpower, what does it say to the world when you disenfranchise so many people?”
Fred Dorse, 81, voting at First Baptist Broad
“I was here when we first fought with the Department of Justice to get this district drawn so that the African American minority could win it,” Dorse said. “It hurts my heart, at almost 81 years old, to see us lose this again. The same fight we had then, back in the late 60’s and 70’s, now we’re fighting it in 2026, and we have to preserve it.
“The 9th Congressional District in Tennessee is the largest African American district in the United States. We have had white representation in the form of Congressman Steve Cohen for 20 years … but the thing is, it’s still ours, and we don’t want to lose that right to have it. Let us keep our choice, whether it be white or African American. We still want to have that choice for us. Now, what they’re talking about doing would dilute that choice. Not only would we lose it as a Democratic district, we would lose it as a minority population.”
Gloria Jonez, voting at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church
“That would mean we have no say-so. Oh no, we need to fight on that one. No, we need say-so just like everyone, every city needs a representative. A lot of people may not even know that it’s happening,” said Jonez, who said she hadn’t heard about the redistricting before MLK50 spoke to her.
“You’re talking about snatching power, of our say-so and freedom of speech. We need that, it’s essential. We need that more than anything.
“It’s unfair. We need to battle on that one; they can take that to the court. We (should) probably have some lawyers in court. Without a Congressional seat, you don’t have a person to go through … a representative lets you know what’s happening up there (in the government).”
Alma Ingram, 86, voting at Pursuit of God Church Memphis
“Steve Cohen, I always vote for him,” Ingram said. “He’s a good man. He always helps, especially old people. I’m 86 years old, so I’m way up there. I don’t think (redistricting is) right, but that’s the way they’ve been doing, getting rid of good people and bringing other people in. … I hope he has the chance to stay. I’m an old-timer, we need someone that’s gonna stay in and help the elderly people. It’s just a bad situation right now.”
Francine Wilson, 70’s, voting at Glenview Community Center
“I don’t like it, because I came from the old school, and I feel like they are trying to wipe the Blacks out. I’m going to actually say it like that,” Wilson said. “It’s taking us back, way back to the Jim Crow days. I don’t like that. My children have to come up behind me, and my grandchildren, and I pray that everything goes well for them, that they don’t have to fight as we always have.
“Everyone goes back to ‘The Color Purple’: ‘I had to fight all the days of my life.’ So if we’ve had to fight all of our days, why should we have to just constantly fight? What’s wrong with getting along? There’s one blood, and it’s all running red, and that came from Jesus.”
Joyce Jordan, 69, voting at Grace Missionary Baptist Church
“It’s taking us back where leaders fought, where we as people fought,” Jordan said. “People died for these rights, and now it’s being taken away, taking us back to the ‘60s and beyond. I feel as though that is very evil, and it’s wrong.
“When I’m voting, I want what I’m voting for to be registered and beneficial for me and other constituents other than it being a benefit for the political hierarchy. It’s not benefiting me or other people at all, and they say, ‘America First.’ I don’t see it.”
Natalie Wallington is the housing reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at natalie.wallington@mlk50.com.
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
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