Alabama and Tennessee move to draw new congressional districts in wake
of Supreme Court ruling
[May 04, 2026]
By KIM CHANDLER and TRAVIS LOLLER
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Republican governors in Alabama and Tennessee
have summoned lawmakers into special sessions this week seeking new
congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened a key
provision of the Voting Rights Act.
Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators back to
Montgomery starting Monday to approve contingency plans for special
primary elections in hopes that the Supreme Court will allow the state
to switch congressional maps ahead of the November midterms. It's a move
that Republicans legislative leaders said would “give our state a
fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” The
seven-member delegation currently has two Democrats.
In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also announced a special session
starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break up the
state’s one Democratic-held House district, centered on the
majority-Black city of Memphis.
The Supreme Court decision striking down a majority-Black congressional
district in Louisiana said the drawing of the district map relied too
much on race. The ruling began reverberating through statehouses across
the South as Republicans eyed the possibility of getting new lines in
place for the 2026 midterm elections, or at least 2028.
President Donald Trump encouraged the latest round of redistricting in a
post on social media on Sunday, saying his party could gain 20 seats in
the House.
“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says
must be done,” Trump said. "That is more important than administrative
convenience."
Florida approved new districts the day of the Supreme Court ruling, and
Louisiana moved quickly to postpone its May 16 congressional primary,
drawing lawsuits from Democrats and civil rights groups. The state’s
Republican leadership started planning for a redraw that could eliminate
one or both of its congressional districts now represented by a Black
lawmaker. South Carolina’s governor suggested his state might also
reconsider its congressional map.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, described the court decision
and the redistricting scramble as an attempt to roll back 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 said Sunday from the pulpit at
Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once served as
pastor. “That isn’t a new method. That’s an old method. That’s a Jim
Crow method."
The Supreme Court ruling boosted an already intense national
redistricting battle by providing Republican officials in some states
potential new grounds to redraw voting districts.
Federal judges previously ordered Alabama to use a court-selected map
with a second district with a substantial number of Black voters. The
judges also ordered Alabama to use the new map until after the 2030
Census. Alabama is appealing that decision and is hoping the court, in
light of the Louisiana ruling, will let Alabama revert to a 2023 map
drawn by state lawmakers.
[to top of second column]
|
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Friday, April 3, 2026.
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
“As I continue saying, Alabama knows our state, our people and our
districts best,” Ivey said.
Tennessee's move comes after a pressure campaign by Trump and other
Republicans to reconfigure the state’s 9th Congressional District.
Republicans have always been checkmated by the Voting Rights Act in
their desire to spread the district’s Democratic voters around
neighboring conservative districts and make it winnable, but the law
may no longer be an impediment.
“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts
accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee said Friday.
The move was encouraged by Trump, who wrote on social media Thursday
that Lee had promised to work hard to give Republicans one extra
seat.
The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the
primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6. Democrats noted that in
2022 the state Supreme Court checked additional redistricting
because it was too close to an election. They argued that the court
is their best hope this time around too.
“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a
democracy," Democratic State Sen. Ramesh Akbari said at a news
conference outside the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.
Alabama Democrats also sharply criticized the decision to try to
change the maps ahead of looming elections.
“This special session is a blatant power grab by Republican
leadership in Montgomery to eliminate seats held by Black
Democrats,” said former Sen. Doug Jones, a Democratic candidate for
Alabama governor.
Louisiana has suspended its May 16 congressional primary to allow
time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts, though that
is being challenged in court.
Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House
districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California
responded by doing the same, then other states joined the battle.
Lawmakers, commissions or courts have adopted new House districts in
eight states.
___
Associated Press writers Jeff Amy, Bill Barrow, Jack Brook, Nicholas
Riccardi and David A. Lieb contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
