MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — GOP leaders in Alabama and Tennessee are calling emergency legislative sessions this week to redraw congressional boundaries following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that diminished key protections under the Voting Rights Act.
Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey has ordered state lawmakers to return to the capital beginning Monday to establish backup plans for emergency primary elections, hoping the nation’s highest court will permit the state to implement different congressional maps before November’s general election. GOP legislative leaders stated this strategy would “give our state a fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” Currently, Alabama’s seven-person congressional delegation includes two Democratic representatives.
Meanwhile in Tennessee, GOP Governor Bill Lee announced a special legislative session beginning Tuesday, where the Republican-dominated state legislature will work to dismantle the state’s sole Democratic-controlled House district, which encompasses Memphis, a city with a majority-Black population.
The high court’s decision eliminated a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, ruling that racial considerations played too significant a role in creating the district boundaries. This verdict has sent shockwaves through state capitols throughout the South, with Republican officials exploring opportunities to implement new district lines for either the 2026 midterm elections or by 2028 at the latest.
Former President Donald Trump promoted this latest wave of redistricting efforts through a social media message posted Sunday, claiming his party could secure 20 additional House seats.
“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump wrote. “That is more important than administrative convenience.”
Florida enacted new districts on the same day as the Supreme Court ruling, while Louisiana quickly delayed its May 16 congressional primary, triggering legal challenges from Democrats and civil rights organizations. Louisiana’s Republican leadership began developing plans for redistricting that could eliminate one or both congressional districts currently held by Black representatives. South Carolina’s governor has indicated his state might also revisit its congressional boundaries.
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock characterized the court’s decision and the subsequent redistricting rush as efforts to reverse progress made during the Civil Rights Movement.
“They said we’re going to allow partisan politicians to gerrymander you, so that even when you show up, your voice won’t have as much impact because we’ll play with the lines,” he stated Sunday while speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. previously served as pastor. “That isn’t a new method. That’s an old method. That’s a Jim Crow method.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling has intensified an already fierce nationwide redistricting fight by giving Republican officials in certain states additional justification for redrawing electoral boundaries.
Federal judges had previously mandated that Alabama utilize a court-approved map featuring a second district with significant Black voter representation. The same judges ordered Alabama to continue using this new map through the 2030 Census. Alabama is challenging that ruling and hopes the court will allow the state to return to a 2023 map created by state legislators, given the Louisiana decision.
“As I continue saying, Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey stated.
Tennessee’s actions follow an intensive lobbying effort by Trump and fellow Republicans to restructure the state’s 9th Congressional District. Republicans have long been prevented by the Voting Rights Act from pursuing their goal of distributing the district’s Democratic voters among surrounding conservative districts to make it competitive, but the law may no longer present such obstacles.
“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee announced Friday. Trump encouraged this move, posting on social media Thursday that Lee had committed to working diligently to secure Republicans one additional seat.
Tennessee’s candidate filing deadline passed in March, with the primary election set for August 6. Democrats pointed out that in 2022, the state Supreme Court prevented additional redistricting because it occurred too close to an election. They believe the court represents their strongest option this time as well.
“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a democracy,” Democratic State Senator Ramesh Akbari declared during a press conference held outside Memphis’s Civil Rights Museum.
Alabama Democrats also strongly condemned the decision to attempt map changes before upcoming elections.
“This special session is a blatant power grab by Republican leadership in Montgomery to eliminate seats held by Black Democrats,” said former Senator Doug Jones, who is running for Alabama governor as a Democrat.
Louisiana has postponed its May 16 congressional primary to provide lawmakers time to approve new U.S. House districts, though this decision faces court challenges.
Trump pressured Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage. California Democrats responded with similar actions, prompting other states to join the redistricting battle. Legislative bodies, commissions, or courts have implemented new House districts across eight states.
