The Republican project isn't to win in November. It's to make November cease to matter | Jamil Smith

"A new electoral map, passed by the Republican-led state legislature and signed by Bill Lee, the governor, divides the ninth district three ways. Last week Tennessee Republicans silenced the Black vote here in Memphis to make Republican victories likely, Cohen said in his statement. That's succinct and accurate. The new map folds a significant portion of Cohen's Black constituents into Williamson county, which sits south of Nashville and was, until recently, the subject of a different fight."

"To this day, the Williamson county seal depicts a Confederate battle flag draped over a cannon. It was adopted in 1968, at the height of the civil rights movement. A Tennessee court ruled in 2024 that the county could remove it. The state legislature responded the following year by passing a new law specifically designed to keep the flag on the seal. The vote was 70-24 in the House and 27-6 in the Senate, with no Democrats voting in favor. Lee, who is from Williamson county, signed it."

"The cartography doesn't require translation. Tennessee is being precise, and they aren't alone. This is the aftermath of the supreme court's disastrous 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v Callais, decided less than a month ago, which gravely weakened the Voting Rights Act's protections for Black representation. Ever since, Republicans have resembled eager children on Christmas morning, tearing our electoral maps to shreds. Louisiana is set to eliminate one of its two Black-majority districts."

Representative Steve Cohen’s congressional career ended after a new Tennessee electoral map divided the ninth district into three parts. Cohen said Tennessee Republicans silenced the Black vote in Memphis to make Republican victories likely. The map moved a significant portion of Cohen’s Black constituents into Williamson County, south of Nashville. Williamson County’s seal includes a Confederate battle flag adopted in 1968, and a 2024 court ruling allowed removal. In 2025, the state legislature passed a law to keep the flag on the seal, with no Democrats supporting it, and Governor Bill Lee signed the law. The same legislature drew the new Memphis-area map. The changes follow the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, which weakened Voting Rights Act protections, enabling Republicans to redraw districts and reduce Black representation.

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