Tennessee Democratic Party leaders are accusing Republican lawmakers of attempting to weaken Black political representation and create voter confusion as the General Assembly convenes for an extraordinary session on congressional redistricting.
According to the Tennessee Democratic Party, state Democratic leaders planned to hold a press conference at 11 a.m. near Beth Harwell Plaza, adjacent to the Cordell Hull Office Building, as lawmakers returned to Nashville for the special legislative session called by Gov. Bill Lee.
Democrats allege the special session is aimed at redrawing Tennessee’s congressional maps in a way that would eliminate Memphis’ majority-Black congressional district.
The party also pointed to comments from U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor, saying she called on the Republican-controlled legislature to dismantle Memphis’ majority-Black congressional district and replace it with multiple majority-white districts.
According to Tennessee Democrats, Republicans would also need to repeal Tennessee state law 2-16-102, which has been in place since 1972 and states congressional districts “may not be changed between apportionments.”
Democrats argued the law was designed to limit congressional redistricting to once every decade in order to reduce confusion for voters and election administrators.
The party also cited the state’s legal arguments made during 2022 redistricting litigation, when Tennessee election officials from Shelby, Knox and Wilson counties submitted sworn affidavits warning that changing congressional maps close to an election could burden election officials, create compliance concerns with federal military and overseas voting requirements, and cause significant voter confusion.
A citizen protest was also scheduled for noon at the Capitol, where residents from across Tennessee were expected to rally against what Democrats called a Republican “power grab.”
In a statement, Tennessee Democrats said Gov. Lee was not calling lawmakers back to address issues such as affordability, grocery prices, health care access or housing, but instead to “erase congressional representation for Memphis,” a majority-Black city.
Republican leaders had not publicly responded to the Democratic Party’s statements as of Tuesday morning.
