Southern Republicans pressed ahead with an aggressive, election-year redistricting push on Wednesday, advancing proposals in Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina that could dismantle majority-Black congressional districts and reshape the U.S. House map just six months before the November midterms. The moves followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority district, a decision that civil rights advocates say severely weakened the Voting Rights Act and gave GOP-led legislatures fresh legal cover to target seats held by Democrats of color.
The effort unfolded amid protests in multiple state capitals and direct warnings from Democrats that the redrawing of districts so close to established primary dates would disenfranchise voters and violate court precedents against last-minute map changes.
In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers proposed a new congressional map that would slice Memphis’s Shelby County—the state’s largest, majority-Black population center—into three districts instead of the current two, dismantling the seat held by the state’s only Democratic House member. “Tennessee is a conservative state, and our congressional delegation should reflect that. This bill ensures it does,” Republican state Sen. John Stevens said, according to the Associated Press. Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton told the AP that the districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data, but Democrats and civil rights groups denounced the proposal as a blatant effort to suppress the Black vote. Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University and a member of the NAACP’s Tennessee branch, called the plan “Black vote dilution at an industrial scale.”
The hearings were repeatedly interrupted. During a Senate committee meeting, protesters loudly chanted “Hands off our vote!” forcing senators to suspend the hearing and clear the room with the help of state troopers. Later, demonstrators beat on the walls and doors of a committee room where senators had reconvened. A House committee also paused as state troopers escorted chanting protesters out. Despite the disruptions, the legislation advanced for a potential final vote on Thursday.
Tennessee lawmakers also attached a repeal of a state law that prohibits mid-decade redistricting. Democrats noted that the state Supreme Court in April 2022 rejected a challenge to the current congressional map because it was too close to the election, and they argued that with the primary set for Aug. 6 and candidate qualifying having closed in March, the new map would create confusion for both candidates and voters.
In Alabama, the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines Wednesday to authorize a special congressional primary, a procedural move designed to clear the way for the state to abandon a map that resulted in the 2024 election of Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. The bill now goes to the state Senate. Alabama is seeking to lift a federal court order that established the current district, which has a near-majority of Black voters. Republicans want instead to use a map drawn by state lawmakers in 2023 that would likely deliver Figures’ south Alabama seat to the GOP.
Four hours of fiery debate preceded the vote. Black Democratic legislators described the effort as a return to the state’s Jim Crow-era history. “It’s a tragic step backward for Black Alabama voters. But we’ve been here before, and we will not give up this fight,” Democratic state Rep. Adline Clarke said, as reported by AP. State Rep. Juandalynn Givan compared the legislation to poll taxes and the notorious “jelly bean” test used to suppress Black registration, calling it “a calculated political maneuver born out of fear, a fear that is of Black people and most importantly Black political power.” Republican state Rep. Chris Pringle, who sponsored the bill, told the AP, “We’re going to be ready if the court hands down a favorable ruling.”
Dozens of protesters blocked a hallway outside the Alabama Senate later Wednesday, singing “We Shall Overcome” and shouting “we’re not going back” before security officers moved them out. Alabama’s primaries are scheduled for May 19. If a court grants the state’s request, the new law would direct the governor to schedule a new primary under revised districts, effectively voiding the results of the one just held.
In South Carolina, the state House approved a resolution Wednesday permitting lawmakers to return after their regular session to redraw congressional districts, a move aimed at eliminating the state’s only Democratic-held seat. Republican leaders said they would introduce a new map on Thursday and hold committee meetings on Friday. Democrats pressed for details on why the GOP was willing to disrupt the June 9 U.S. House primary so close to the election, but Republicans fended off the questions.
Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg said he felt sorry for his Republican colleagues, suggesting they were abandoning their principles under pressure from Trump. “The president of the United States is a very powerful man. Wields a heavy, heavy thumb—Truth Social, X, Meta, Instagram. To be honest I don’t envy our Republican colleagues,” he said, according to the AP. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis warned that democracy would be damaged if lawmakers changed voting districts for political reasons every time power shifts or to protect an incumbent.
The flurry of Southern redistricting came eight months before the November midterms that will determine control of the closely divided U.S. House. Since Trump prodded Texas to redraw its congressional districts last year, eight states have adopted new House maps. Republican strategists believe the redrawings could net their party as many as 13 additional seats, while Democrats think they could gain up to 10, though many of the new districts could be competitive, according to the AP.