Tennessee lawmakers pass new U.S. House map to give GOP a 9-0 advantage
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Sen. Charlane Oliver speaks during Senate debate on the new House map. Photo: Madison Thorn/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Tennessee joined the partisan redistricting battle that's sweeping the nation on Thursday, as Republicans passed a gerrymandered U.S. House map that they hope helps keep their party in control of Congress.
Why it matters: From Texas to California to Florida, state legislatures and voters are approving new House maps in advance of the bitterly fought midterm elections.
Zoom in: While other states could gerrymander their districts in order to swing multiple seats, Tennessee Republicans already had a stranglehold on all but one: the Black-majority ninth district representing Memphis.
The latest: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee quickly signed the new map into law.
- The map and associated election rules will be face a ferocious legal challenge. Even minuscule delays in the court system could block the map from taking effect this year.
The big picture: Tennessee's gerrymandered map passed along party lines. Since the Republicans hold a supermajority in the Tennessee General Assembly, the loud and passionate Democratic resistance was steamrolled with votes to spare.
- House Democrats locked arms at one point during the floor vote. State Rep. Justin Jones, a member of the Tennessee Three, burned a Confederate flag outside the chamber in protest.
Catch up quick: The U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week in a lawsuit over Louisiana's map essentially eliminated a legal hurdle that had preserved District 9 as a liberal safe haven.
- President Trump called on Lee and Republicans to pass the map that will favor the GOP in all nine House races.
Driving the news: Republicans were transparent in saying they were motivated by politics. Prior to the votes, state Rep. Todd Warner draped himself in a Trump flag.
What he's saying: "We drafted this in consultation with legal, and we are confident this meets the criteria we're required to by law," state Rep. Jason Zachary, one of the measure's chief proponents, said during the House debate.
- "This map was drafted based on politics, based on population, and the opportunity for the first time in history for us to send an entire Republican delegation from Tennessee to represent the state in Washington, D.C."
The other side: Opposition was loud. Protesters packed the galleries, chanted and used noisemakers to try to delay the votes.
- Democratic lawmakers accused Republicans of desecrating the state's legacy as a battleground in the Civil Rights movement. (Nashville was the first major city in the South to desegregate its lunch counters.)
- Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, which will now be divided into three Republican-majority House districts.
- "Dr. King took a bullet in the neck," attorney Walter Bailey, a former Shelby County commissioner, told a Senate committee earlier in the week. "They were shot. Killed. Murdered. Advancing voting rights. It's an insult to their legacy."
Friction point: Democrats also argued the new map raises legal questions, such as restarting the ongoing August primary process.
- The original deadline already passed, and the ballot lineup had been finalized.
- The watchdog group Tennessee Coalition for Open Government raised the issue of transparency after Republicans passed a bill in tandem with the new maps that eliminated the requirement for local election officials to alert voters to their new districts and precincts.
"This is going to create chaos in our election commission and confusion for voters and for candidates," said state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat.
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional details.