The push to redraw U.S. House districts is accelerating across several southern states after the Supreme Court, in approving a request to expedite its formal judgment, effectively cleared a path for Louisiana to move forward following the high court’s decision that struck down a majority-Black congressional district.
The decision has prompted a fast legislative response, with a special legislative session beginning Monday in Alabama and set to start Tuesday in Tennessee, while Louisiana lawmakers remained in session and considered how to redraw congressional districts. The changes come amid public opposition, including rallies and lawsuits challenging the redistricting efforts.
Civil rights activists gathered outside the Alabama Statehouse on Monday, carrying signs saying “No new map” and “We fight back! Black Voters Matter.” Sheyann Webb-Christburg, who said she participated as a child in the 1965 Bloody Sunday voting rights march in Selma, said: “Much blood, sweat and tears was shed in an effort for us to gain the right to vote. In 2026, there are still people who are still not exercising that right to vote, and we are still fighting today, even in an effort to keep our right to vote.”
In Louisiana, civil rights groups moved quickly after the Supreme Court ruling that said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black majority House district to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Alanah Odoms, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, said Monday that the decision unleashed “a wave of nefarious actions” across states that threatens to disenfranchise Black voters.
As Republicans press forward, Democrats and civil rights groups have turned to courts. Louisiana moved to delay its May 16 congressional primary to allow lawmakers time to approve new U.S. House districts, and Republicans have yet to unveil their planned revisions to district lines. Still, Democrats and civil rights groups filed lawsuits challenging the election suspension, including a suit filed Monday in federal court, and they encouraged people in Louisiana—where early voting was already underway—to continue voting in the congressional primaries in case later rulings allow the votes to be counted.
In Alabama, rather than canceling the state’s May 19 primaries, Gov. Kay Ivey called legislators into a special session to consider contingency plans for special primary elections. Alabama is seeking court approval to revert to a 2023 map drawn by Republican state lawmakers, an effort tied to a legal fight over whether the state can change district lines ahead of the November elections. The proposed shift would substantially alter the district now represented by Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat.
Tennessee’s special session centers on the state’s single Democratic-held House seat, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced the special session starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled legislature to break up that district, and the move follows pressure from Trump and other Republicans to reconfigure Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. Tennessee clergy members protested the plan Monday, with Rev. Earle Fisher—founder of Up the Vote 901—saying: “This latest attempt at redistricting is not just about lines on a map, it is about misrepresentation. It’s about whether the voices of Black people in this state will be heard or hidden.”
The redistricting fight is also unfolding alongside broader, nationwide competition over House maps. Legislative voting districts are typically redrawn only once a decade after the census, but Trump encouraged more states to act outside that timetable by urging redistricting and suggesting Republicans could gain additional House seats, according to a social media post. The announcement also came as states have acted to redraw earlier, with Florida becoming the eighth state to enact new House districts ahead of midterm elections on Monday, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a redrawn map and a court challenge was filed immediately.
While Republicans weigh possible seat gains from new House districts, Democrats are also assessing the political implications of the maps and ongoing litigation. U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries promoted a redistricting effort in New York, though that effort was described as not expected to produce a new map until 2028, conditional on a constitutional amendment process and voter approval. In the meantime, candidate qualifying in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.