2026 Tennessee redistricting – Memphis split three ways

2026 Tennessee redistricting splits Memphis into three GOP districts. Legal fight ahead. On Wednesday, Republicans suggested a plan to redraw Tennessee’s congressional districts in 2026. The plan would split Memphis, which is mostly Black, into three separate districts. This change is likely to give Republicans control of Tennessee’s only remaining Democratic seat, the Ninth District. The map splits Shelby County (which includes Memphis) into three districts. This is a quick response to last week’s Supreme Court decision that made it harder to prove that a racial gerrymander is illegal under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Democratic lawmakers, whose opposition doesn’t mean much because Republicans have a supermajority, and Black leaders from all over Tennessee have said that the effort is like voter suppression during the Jim Crow era. They say that conservatives are trying to take power away from Black voters in Memphis, who have long supported Democrats. Republicans, with President Trump’s support, don’t agree with those claims. They say they are just following what the Supreme Court said: that redistricting should not take into account race and can be based on party politics. Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Republican front-runner for governor, said, “This is what it means to be America’s conservative leader.” Let’s finish it.

How the 2026 redistricting in Tennessee changes the map: Memphis is now in three parts.

The 2026 Tennessee redistricting map divides Shelby County into three districts. One district runs along the western border of the state and then goes down to include part of Williamson County, which is a suburban area outside of Nashville. Two other districts now share parts of Shelby County with communities that are more rural and conservative. Speaker Cameron Sexton said in a statement, “The Supreme Court has said that redistricting should be colorblind, just like the judicial system. This means that states like Tennessee can redistrict based on partisan politics.” Tennessee’s redistricting will lower the chances of future legal challenges and encourage smart and strategic conservatism.

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The map has an effect on Middle Tennessee as well. The legislature had already divided Nashville, another Democratic stronghold, into three districts that leaned Republican. Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican, is currently in charge of the Fifth Congressional District. It used to include parts of Davidson County (Nashville), but not anymore. Ogles said the map “confirms a basic truth: Tennesseans, not socialist Democrats, should represent Tennessee.” He went on to say, “To my new district: I will be your America First warrior in Congress.” Some Democrats said that the new map is meant to protect Ogles, who is running against well-funded Democratic challenger Mayor Chaz Molder. “They’re trying to change the maps to protect him after the game has already started,” Molder wrote. I’m not going to give up. “Game on!”

Protests, Trump’s call, and the battle over redistricting in Tennessee in 2026

There is a lot of opposition to the 2026 Tennessee redistricting plan. Hundreds of people protested outside the State Capitol on Tuesday, and their shouts and boos could be heard inside. The House passed a strict set of rules that says anyone who is kicked out for bad behavior can’t come back for the rest of the session. State Senator Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis, made an emotional appeal: “History will not look back kindly on you when you had the chance to do the right thing and chose to do something else.”

Protests continued on Wednesday, and state highway patrol officers moved protesters out of committee rooms while people yelled “shame, shame.” Democrats brought Stacey Abrams, a former Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia and an advocate for voting rights, to Nashville to speak out against the map. The day after the Supreme Court’s decision, President Trump called Republican Governor Bill Lee to ask for a new map. Top Republicans in Tennessee are rushing to make it easier to pass, but first the state legislature needs to get rid of a law that made it illegal to change district lines between census years. The General Assembly is likely to vote on Thursday.

Steve Cohen, a white Democrat who has held the Ninth District seat since 2007, called the map “a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the voice of the Black community and our whole city.” Cohen is running against State Representative Justin J. Pearson, who is Black. They both went to a rally against the map. The new map will probably mix up the current congressional races, like the one between Cohen and Pearson. The proposed map would make the Ninth District go much farther east along the border between Tennessee and Mississippi.