Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday signed into law a new congressional map that dismantles the state's only majority-Black district and is expected to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage in the U.S. House delegation. The bill cleared the state Senate hours earlier as protesters chanted in the gallery.
The redrawn lines split the Memphis-based 9th District, held by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007, across three districts that stretch hundreds of miles into rural eastern Tennessee. State Republicans said the new map reflected population shifts in the most recent census; Democrats called it a racial gerrymander.
Tennessee is the first state to redraw its congressional boundaries since the Supreme Court last week weakened the preclearance regime under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers in several other Republican-controlled states have signalled they may follow.
President Donald Trump pressed Tennessee leaders to redraw the lines before the 2026 midterms, in which his party defends a thin House majority. Speaker Cameron Sexton said the map "reflects the political geography of Tennessee as it actually exists today".
Hundreds of demonstrators marched daily to the Capitol throughout the special session. On Thursday they filled the Senate gallery, with several escorted out by troopers as senators voted. Civil-rights groups including the NAACP and the ACLU said they would file suit.
Representative Cohen said he would seek re-election regardless of the configuration of his district. National Democrats acknowledged the redrawn lines made his path significantly harder and said they would prioritise legal challenges over candidate recruitment.
Outside legal experts said litigation could ultimately reach the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority's recent ruling has narrowed but not eliminated avenues for challenging discriminatory maps.