Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed into law a new congressional map  designed to give Republicans one more seat in Congress and protect President Trump’s control over the House.  They got what they didn't expect.

     State lawmakers hustled to do their part in the nationwide redistricting war, passing the GOP-backed maps. Democratic lawmakers threw a fit following the vote, waving signs and blowing airhorns before storming out of the state House chamber.  Tennessee currently has eight Republicans and one Democrat — Rep. Steve Cohen, whose district is centered in the city of Memphis — in its House delegation. Under the new map, Republicans would be favored to sweep all nine seats.

     Cohen’s (D-Tenn.) majority-minority district seat was a product of the prior interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But last week, the Supreme Court overturned that precedent and effectively ruled that courts must first determine that there’s a case of racial discrimination before ordering race-based redistrict Cohen, who has held the Memphis-based seat since 2007, has vowed to sue. “It’s a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the black community’s and our entire city’s voice,” he fumed. President Trump won Tennessee by 64% over Kamala Harris’s 34% in November 2024.ting.  The map redrawing comes against the backdrop of a broader redistricting arms race playing out across the country. 

     Top Tennessee Republicans, such as Sen. Marsha Blackburn (D-Tenn.), who is vying for governor, had publicly pressed for the Volunteer State to redistrict in response to the Virginia referendum last month, which cleared the way for a Democratic map expected to give them a four-seat pickup opportunity.