This story has been republished with permission from Tennessee Lookout. Read the original story here.
A Tennessee congressional map redrawn by Republicans with direction from the White House cuts Shelby County into three districts designed to give the GOP complete control over the state and consolidate power in Williamson County.
Notably, Memphis would be drawn into the same districts as affluent Williamson in Middle Tennessee, home of Gov. Bill Lee, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a gubernatorial candidate.
To reach their goal, Republican lawmakers voted in a committee to change state law that prohibits redistricting in the middle of an apportionment cycle, even though they don’t have updated population figures. The state hasn’t made such a move since the law was adopted in 1972.
“We’re getting screwed,” said Memphis resident Martin Johnson, an organizer for the Equity Alliance in West Tennessee. “It’s trying to split up and dilute the Black vote.”
Johnson raised questions about how a member of Congress from rural West Tennessee or suburban Middle Tennessee would be able to listen to Memphis residents or how voters would be able to hold their representative accountable.
Johnson and Patricia Lurry were among numerous Memphians who traveled to Nashville to oppose the redistricting effort.
“They’re talking about tearing our city apart. Ultimately, that’s what they’re doing for their own selfish gain,” Lurry said.
Lurry listened to testimony from election and political experts who presented evidence showing the redistricting would harm the election process and cause voter “confusion” and “chaos.”
“What are we here for, just for show?” Lurry said, pointing out that testimony showed Memphis is an “organic” Black voting block that could change as growth takes place.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville blasted the proposed map, noting the two Memphis districts would run two different 200-mile routes, ending in Williamson, while a third Memphis district has an “obvious racial architecture.”
“Give me a break. It’s the most blatant dilution of Black voting power since the height of Jim Crow,” Yarbro said.
Under a bill filed Wednesday in a special session of the Tennessee legislature, a new 5th U.S. Congressional District would stretch from urban Memphis up the western part of the state to Kentucky before running easterly to Maury and western Williamson counties.
The new 9th U.S. Congressional District, which currently includes Memphis and part of Tipton County, would run across southern Shelby County along the state’s southern border, taking in the eastern part of Maury and Williamson counties, as well as tiny Moore County.
A new 8th U.S. Congressional District would take in the northeastern portion of Shelby County, including Memphis suburbs, and run across rural West Tennessee counties such as Haywood and Madison, ending in Perry County in Middle Tennessee.
Majority Leader Johnson, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the redistricting bill, said Wednesday morning the two chambers agree on the redrawn map.
Johnson, a Franklin Republican seeking the Senate speaker’s post, said the legislature designed the map, not the White House.
President Donald Trump pressured Gov. Bill Lee to call the special session to redraw the map in an effort to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage in Tennessee’s congressional districts and another vote to keep Trump’s policies going.
“We allowed (the Trump administration) to opine and give some guidance on it, but we drew the map,” Johnson said.
The White House provided input on population figures for each proposed district to make sure the map is legal, Johnson said. The plan is designed to put as many Republicans in Congress as possible to represent Tennessee’s “conservative values,” Johnson added.
Davidson County would remain split into three counties, a move the legislature made in 2021 to end Democratic control of the Nashville district. But it would take in a portion of the 4th, 6th and 7th U.S. Congressional Districts, and the 5th District would be removed.
New lines for the 6th U.S. Congressional District take in a portion of Davidson and reach into small portions of Sumner County, a move that allows state Rep. Johnny Garrett to remain in the 6th and continue his congressional campaign.
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