NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Republicans in several Southern states pressed ahead with an aggressive election-year redistricting effort Wednesday, undeterred by demonstrations and objections to their plans to reshape majority-Black congressional districts that have suddenly become vulnerable because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n
In Tennessee, protesters repeatedly interrupted legislative hearings on the redistricting plans, yet Republicans advanced them for a potential final vote Thursday.<\/p>\n
Despite passionate pleas from Black Democratic lawmakers, Republicans in the Alabama House approved a measure to upend the state\u2019s congressional primaries if courts allow them to switch their U.S. House districts. In South Carolina, Democrats chided Republican colleagues for abiding by President Donald Trump’s desires as they took an initial step toward redrawing a district long held by a Black Democratic lawmaker.<\/p>\n
The stakes are high for minority voters who stand to lose their preferred representatives and for any Republican lawmakers reluctant to follow Trump’s wishes. In Republican primary elections Tuesday, Trump-endorsed challengers defeated at least five of the seven Indiana state lawmakers targeted by the president’s allies for refusing to support a congressional redistricting effort last year.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court ruled last week that Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans in Louisiana and elsewhere grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.<\/p>\n
The ruling intensified an already fierce national redistricting battle ahead of a November midterm election that will determine control of the closely divided House.<\/p>\n
Since Trump prodded Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts last year, eight states have adopted new congressional districts. From that, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats while Democrats think they could gain up to 10. But some of the new districts could be competitive in November, meaning the parties may not get all they sought.<\/p>\n
Tennessee plan splits up Memphis district<\/strong><\/p>\n Republicans on Wednesday proposed a new U.S. House map that would split Memphis\u2019 home of Shelby County into three districts, instead of the current two. The map would break up Tennessee\u2019s lone Democratic-held district, centered on the majority-Black city, creating a ripple effect of alterations to districts throughout the western and central parts of the state.<\/p>\n \u201cTennessee is a conservative state, and our congressional delegation should reflect that. This bill ensures it does,\u201d Republican state Sen. John Stevens said.<\/p>\n Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts were drawn based on population and politics, not racial data.<\/p>\n To adopt new House districts, Tennessee lawmakers also are seeking to repeal a state law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting.<\/p>\n Democrats and civil rights activists denounced the efforts during Wednesday’s committee hearings.<\/p>\n The proposal \u201cis Black vote dilution at an industrial scale,\u201d said Sekou Franklin, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is part of the Tennessee branch of the NAACP.<\/p>\n Protesters interrupted a Senate committee meeting, loudly chanting \u201cHands off our vote!\u201d After senators suspended the hearing, state troopers cleared people from the room. Senators resumed their work elsewhere, advancing the legislation.<\/p>\n Later Wednesday, protesters in the hallway beat on the walls and doors of a committee room where senators were meeting. A House committee also paused its work as state troopers escorted chanting protesters from the room.<\/p>\n The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, but legislation would reopen it to allow new candidates to join the races and existing candidates to switch districts. The primary election is Aug. 6.<\/p>\n Democrats noted that the state Supreme Court in April 2022 rejected a challenge to the current congressional map, finding it was too close to the election to make changes. This year, there\u2019s even less time before the primary elections, raising the potential of confusion for both candidates and voters, Democrats said.<\/p>\n Alabama House backs a new primary<\/strong><\/p>\n The Republican-led Alabama House on Wednesday passed legislation authorizing special congressional primaries as Republicans eye the possibility of getting a different congressional map in place for the November elections. The bill now moves to the state Senate.<\/p>\n Alabama is seeking to lift a federal court order that created a second congressional district with a near-majority of Black voters. That map led to the 2024 election of Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. Republicans want instead to use a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim Figures\u2019 south Alabama district.<\/p>\n The legislation won House approval on a party-line vote after four hours of fiery debate during which Black legislators said the moment calls back to the state\u2019s shameful Jim Crow-era history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a tragic step backward for Black Alabama voters. But we\u2019ve been here before, and we will not give up this fight,\u201d Democratic state Rep. Adline Clarke said.<\/p>\n Democratic state Rep. Juandalynn Givan likened the legislation to poll taxes and counting jelly beans in a jar \u2014 a virtually impossible task that was used to suppress Black voters during the Jim Crow era.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a calculated political maneuver born out of fear, a fear that is of Black people and most importantly Black political power,\u201d Givan said.<\/p>\n Tensions rose later Wednesday as dozens of protesters temporarily blocked a hallway outside the Senate, singing \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d and shouting \u201cwe\u2019re not going back\u201d as security officers tried to get them to leave.<\/p>\n Alabama’s legislation hinges on the U.S. Supreme Court or a district court agreeing to lift the injunction.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be ready if the court hands down a favorable ruling,\u201d said Republican state Rep. Chris Pringle, who sponsored the bill.<\/p>\n Alabama\u2019s primaries are May 19. If a court grants the state\u2019s request, the legislation would ignore the results for congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.<\/p>\n South Carolina moves toward redistricting<\/strong><\/p>\n The South Carolina House on Wednesday approved a resolution giving lawmakers permission to return later, after their regular work ends, to redraw congressional districts that could eliminate the state\u2019s only Democratic-held district. The proposal now goes to the Senate, where it would need a two-thirds vote.<\/p>\n Republican House leaders said after the vote that they plan to introduce a new map Thursday and hold committee meetings on Friday. But during debate Wednesday, Republicans fended off specific questions from Democrats, including why they were willing to stop the June 9 U.S. House primary elections well after candidates filed and how much a rescheduled primary could cost.<\/p>\n Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg said he felt sorry for Republicans who he said were giving up their principles to follow the whims of Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president of the United States is a very powerful man. Wields a heavy, heavy thumb \u2014 Truth Social, X, Meta, Instagram. To be honest I don\u2019t envy our Republican colleagues,\u201d Bamberg said.<\/p>\n Democratic Rep. Leon Stavrinakis said democracy will die if lawmakers redraw voting districts for political reasons every time power changes or to protect someone in office.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama; Collins from Columbia, South Carolina; and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press reporter Kristin M. Hall contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Republicans in several Southern states pressed ahead with an aggressive election-year redistricting effort Wednesday, undeterred by demonstrations and objections to their plans to reshape majority-Black congressional districts that have suddenly become vulnerable because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In Tennessee, protesters repeatedly interrupted legislative hearings on the redistricting plans, yet … Continue reading Southern Republicans press ahead with election-year redistricting of US House despite protests<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2851],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1504571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news-archive"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 05:06:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1504571"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1505192,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504571\/revisions\/1505192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1504571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1504571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1504571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}