Key Takeaways
- • Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen announced plans to file a lawsuit in state court challenging a newly drawn congressional redistricting map that would split Shelby County—currently a majority-Black district—into three separate House districts where Black voters would become minorities in each.
- • The Republican-controlled legislature passed new redistricting legislation that redraws Cohen's current District 9, with the new map stretching from South Memphis east to Lynchburg in Moore County, while splitting Memphis representation across Districts 5, 8, and 9.
- • Cohen characterizes the redistricting as racially motivated, stating the map was deliberately designed to dilute Black voting power across three districts where Black voters lack sufficient influence to elect candidates of their choosing.
- • The redistricting effort follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Louisiana's second Black-majority House district, which significantly weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act and emboldened Republican-controlled states to eliminate majority-Black districts that have consistently elected Democratic representatives.
- • Cohen's legal challenge seeks to preserve District 9 as a majority-minority district through 2028, positioning the case as a critical test of voting rights protections in the post-Supreme Court ruling environment.
Summary
Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) announced on Thursday that he will file a lawsuit in state court to challenge a newly approved congressional redistricting map that fragments Shelby County into three separate House districts. The announcement came immediately after Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation officially redrawing congressional lines, a move Cohen characterizes as racially motivated and designed to eliminate the state's only majority-Black district.
Under the new map unveiled by Republican leadership, Shelby County would be divided as follows: District 5 would extend from downtown Memphis north and east into Franklin; District 8 would encompass portions of Midtown and East Memphis stretching northeast into Perry County; and the new District 9 would begin in South Memphis and extend east to Lynchburg in Moore County. Cohen currently represents District 9. According to Cohen's statement to FOX13, his legal challenge aims to maintain District 9 as a majority-minority district through 2028, with multiple plaintiffs joining the lawsuit.
Cohen's specific allegation centers on intentional vote dilution. He stated that whoever drew or directed the map creation "told him divide the Black vote up in the three districts to where they are a minority, and they don't have enough influence to elect a member of their own choosing." This claim directly references the mechanics of racial gerrymandering—dispersing a concentrated voting bloc across multiple districts to diminish its electoral power in all jurisdictions.
The redistricting effort occurs against the backdrop of a significant Supreme Court decision from the prior week, in which the Court ruled that Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district in an attempt to comply with the Voting Rights Act. That ruling fundamentally altered decades of voting rights jurisprudence, providing Republican-controlled legislatures nationwide with legal grounds to challenge and eliminate majority-Black districts that have historically elected Democratic representatives. Tennessee's redistricting now represents one of the first legislative responses to this new legal environment, making Cohen's state-court challenge a potential bellwether for voting rights litigation across multiple states.
Under the new map unveiled by Republican leadership, Shelby County would be divided as follows: District 5 would extend from downtown Memphis north and east into Franklin; District 8 would encompass portions of Midtown and East Memphis stretching northeast into Perry County; and the new District 9 would begin in South Memphis and extend east to Lynchburg in Moore County. Cohen currently represents District 9. According to Cohen's statement to FOX13, his legal challenge aims to maintain District 9 as a majority-minority district through 2028, with multiple plaintiffs joining the lawsuit.
Cohen's specific allegation centers on intentional vote dilution. He stated that whoever drew or directed the map creation "told him divide the Black vote up in the three districts to where they are a minority, and they don't have enough influence to elect a member of their own choosing." This claim directly references the mechanics of racial gerrymandering—dispersing a concentrated voting bloc across multiple districts to diminish its electoral power in all jurisdictions.
The redistricting effort occurs against the backdrop of a significant Supreme Court decision from the prior week, in which the Court ruled that Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district in an attempt to comply with the Voting Rights Act. That ruling fundamentally altered decades of voting rights jurisprudence, providing Republican-controlled legislatures nationwide with legal grounds to challenge and eliminate majority-Black districts that have historically elected Democratic representatives. Tennessee's redistricting now represents one of the first legislative responses to this new legal environment, making Cohen's state-court challenge a potential bellwether for voting rights litigation across multiple states.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.