The Redistricting War

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Signs Redistricting Bill to Carve Up State’s Lone Blue District

The proposal splits the Democratic stronghold of Memphis into three U.S. congressional seats.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a new U.S. congressional map into law on May 7. The legislation will redistrict and break up the state’s only current Democratic district ahead of the midterms.

Lee signed the legislation hours after it passed the state House 64–25, with three voting “present,” and the state Senate 25–5.

The proposal splits the Democratic stronghold of Memphis into three U.S. congressional seats, up from one, currently held by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).

All of Tennessee’s nine congressional districts will now likely lean Republican, so the only Democratic voice representing the Volunteer State could be voted out in the midterms.

Cohen—who currently represents District 9, covering parts of Shelby County including the city of Memphis, and Tipton County— called redistricting efforts “a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the Black community’s and [the] entire city’s voice,” in a May 6 post on X.

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