WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Tennessee Republicans have committed to redraw their state's congressional districts to eliminate the lone Democrat-held House seat following the Supreme Court's decision severely narrowing the scope of the Voting Rights Act.
Trump, in an April 30 post on Truth Social, said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee committed in a phone call to "work hard" with Republican state lawmakers to redraw maps before the 2026 midterms to ensure Republicans gain control of all nine of the state's U.S. House seats. Trump framed the effort as correcting a "constitutional flaw" in Tennessee's maps after the court's ruling.
"This should give us one extra seat, and help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization, Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more," Trump said. "Thank you Governor Lee – PUSH HARD!"
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In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the Supreme Court on April 29 struck down a congressional map in Louisiana that had been drawn to protect the voting power of Black residents, delivering a massive blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The ruling jeopardizes Democrats' hold on several Black-majority districts across the South. Republicans officials in some states quickly vowed to push for new maps before the November election.
Republicans' race to capitalize on the court's ruling before the midterms comes amid a cross-country redistricting battle with Democrats that was set off by Trump encouraging GOP-controlled states to redraw their maps to hold on to the slim U.S. House majority. Redistricting typically occurs at the end of each decade, once new census data is available.
Tennessee's only Democratic congressional seat, District 9, held by Rep. Steve Cohen, includes all of majority-black Memphis and Shelby County. Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Trump ally, in a post on X floated redrawn maps that would slice Memphis three ways, diluting the city's strong Democratic support by folding those voters in with rural, conservative parts of the state.
A spokeswoman for Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tennessee adjourned its annual legislative session last week, meaning the governor would have to call a new special session for the legislature to vote on new maps.
Cohen accused Trump and Republicans of "coming for the power of Black voters in Memphis."
"They emasculated the VRA, now Trump needs them to finish the job by November to save his majority in Congress," the congressman said in a statement. "I'm not backing down. My team and I are already in touch with experienced voting rights attorneys to try and stop this."
Democrats previously held two congressional seats in Tennessee, but the count was reduced to one when Republican lawmakers in 2022 split Nashville, the state's other Democratic stronghold, into three districts.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says Tennessee will redraw House maps after Supreme Court ruling
