Tennessee Governor Signs New All-GOP Gerrymander Into Law

(AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) has signed into law a new GOP gerrymander that favors Republicans in all nine of the state’s districts.

Lee signed the bill shortly after state lawmakers voted in favor of the new map that carves up the majority-Black district that includes the city of Memphis. The move could ensure Tennessee sends only Republicans to Congress after the midterms. In 2022, Tennessee Republicans eliminated a Democrat-held House seat in the Nashville area by carving the metro area up in a similar fashion.

State Rep. Todd Warner (R) arrived to the House chamber wearing a Trump flag for the special session of the state legislature.

He was met by hundreds of protesters who packed the Tennessee statehouse, leading to multiple arrests.

Gov. Lee and lawmakers “were pressured by President Donald Trump to draw a new map as the president faces the prospect of an unfavorable 2026 midterm election result,” reported The Tennessee Lookout. “Traditionally, the party in the White House loses seats in midterm elections, and Trump’s approval rating of around 40% is the same as in 2018, when Republicans lost 41 seats and control of the U.S. House.”

The Tennessee law was made possible by last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required states with a history of racial discrimination to ensure minority representation in Congress. It’s now legal for maps to be drawn along partisan lines without racial concerns.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!