Tennessee GOP Erases State's Last Democratic, Black-Majority Seat in Shameless Power Grab

"Gov. Mike Lee (R) signed into law a new congressional map that will effectively erase the last Democratic, majority-Black district, in a move that some are calling "Jim Crow on steroids." The legislation, which looks a whole lot like racial gerrymandering, comes a whole week after the Supreme Court hollowed out the last of the Voting Rights Act... removing the last protections to prevent racial gerrymandering."

"The new map will cut up Tennessee's 9th Congressional District, which is currently held by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), dividing Memphis into three districts, and Nashville into five. It comes as a pathetic toady-up to Trump, who Truth Social'ed late last month that he was working with Gov. Lee "to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee"-a day after the SCOTUS ruling."

"Gov. Lee called for a legislature special session a day later, which began Tuesday, and the GOP supermajority legislature finished on Thursday by repealing a 1972 law that prohibits re-districting in the middle of a decade-or in non-census years-before immediately voting to then carve out the state's lone Democrat seat. (There are nine seats in the delegation in total.)"

"The party also snuck through some extra voter-suppression legislation on top of all this, and got rid of legislation that requires the government to tell voters when their congressional redistricts are redrawn, as well as their updated voting areas, despite the fact that hundreds of voters' voting areas could have been impacted by the changes. Per the bill's text, this-rather crucial-information will now only have to be declared on an "official website, if one exists.""

Gov. Mike Lee signed a new congressional map that divides Memphis and Nashville into multiple districts and effectively eliminates the last Democratic, majority-Black district. The change follows a Supreme Court decision that removed remaining Voting Rights Act protections against racial gerrymandering. The GOP legislature held a special session and repealed a 1972 law that barred redistricting in the middle of a decade or in non-census years, then immediately carved out the state’s lone Democrat seat. Additional voter-suppression measures were passed, including removing requirements for government notice to voters when congressional districts and voting areas are redrawn. Updated information will be required only on an “official website, if one exists.”

Read at Jezebel