Republicans across several Southern states pressed ahead with election-year redistricting plans Wednesday, even as Democrats and civil-rights supporters warned the proposals would weaken Black voting power after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week changed the legal landscape for majority-Black House districts.
The legal fight is playing out on tight timelines before the 2026 midterm elections, when control of the House remains uncertain. The Supreme Court ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when it created a second Black-majority House district in an effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act, altering how the law has been understood and giving Republicans in Louisiana and elsewhere grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.
In Tennessee, Republicans on Wednesday proposed a new U.S. House map that would split Memphis in Shelby County into three districts instead of the current two. State Sen. John Stevens, a Republican, said the plan reflects what he described as Tennessee’s conservative political character. Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data.
The Tennessee push faced sustained protest as lawmakers held committee hearings on redistricting. Protesters repeatedly interrupted the meetings, and after senators suspended the hearing, state troopers cleared people from the room. Later Wednesday, protesters beat on the walls and doors of a committee room where senators were meeting elsewhere, and a House committee also paused while protesters were escorted out.
Tennessee Republicans advanced their plans for a potential final vote Thursday, while also seeking to repeal a state law that prohibits mid-decade redistricting. Democrats and civil-rights activists denounced the proposals, including Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is part of the Tennessee branch of the NAACP, who described the effort as Black vote dilution. The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, but legislation would reopen it so new candidates could join and existing candidates could switch districts for the Aug. 6 primary.
The election-year pressure was also on display in Alabama, where the Republican-led House on Wednesday approved legislation authorizing special congressional primaries. Alabama’s measure moves to the state Senate and is designed for a scenario in which courts lift a federal court order that created a second congressional district with near-majority Black voters—an arrangement tied to the election of Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. Republicans said they want to instead use a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim Figures’ south Alabama district. MSI previously reported that courts had halted Alabama’s earlier effort to reshape a House map with two Black districts.
Democratic state Rep. Adline Clarke called the Alabama action a tragic step backward for Black Alabama voters, saying lawmakers would not give up the fight. Democratic Rep. Juandalynn Givan drew comparisons to Jim Crow-era voting restrictions, saying the timing and nature of the legislation resembled poll taxes and an impossible counting exercise. Alabama’s House debate included further tension outside the chambers, where protesters temporarily blocked a Senate hallway, singing “We Shall Overcome” and shouting that they were not going back as security officers tried to clear the area.
Under the Alabama legislation, primaries are scheduled for May 19, but if a court grants the state’s request the law would ignore the congressional results and require the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts. Republican state Rep. Chris Pringle, who sponsored the bill, said lawmakers would be ready if courts issued a favorable ruling.
In South Carolina, Republicans moved toward redistricting as the South Carolina House approved a resolution allowing lawmakers to return after regular work to redraw congressional districts. The proposal could eliminate the state’s only Democratic-held district, Republicans said, and it now goes to the Senate where it would need a two-thirds vote. Republican House leaders said after the vote that they plan to introduce a new map Thursday and hold committee meetings Friday, even as Democrats criticized the decision to potentially reshape districts after a June 9 U.S. House primary had already been set.
During Wednesday’s debate, Democrats pressed Republicans on reasons for pursuing a schedule that could reschedule primaries and on potential cost implications. Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg said he felt sorry for Republicans whom he said were setting aside their principles, and Rep. Leon Stavrinakis said lawmakers would be undermining democracy by redrawing districts whenever political power changes or to protect someone in office.