Republican officials in several red states are calling on their state legislatures to redistrict their states in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to curb race-based redistricting in Louisiana.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Wednesday that the drawing of Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, which is a majority-minority district in line with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, relied too heavily on race. Pundits expected the decision to open the door for red states to support redistricting efforts that would not have to include certain districts drawn based on race, and this is already playing out.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to redistrict the state following Wednesday’s decision.
“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis,” Blackburn said on X. “It’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump‘s agenda and the Golden Age of America.”
Blackburn, who has served in the Senate since 2019 and is now running for governor in the Volunteer State, shared a suggested map. The map is a red wall with nine districts and gets rid of the one Democratic U.S. House seat in the state that surrounds Memphis, currently held by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN).
“I’ve vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I’ll do everything I can to make this map a reality,” Blackburn said.
The Tennessee Democratic Party responded to Blackburn’s post on X, writing, “Ever wonder what it looks like when Republicans know they cannot win free and fair elections? This is it.”
“Tennessee Republicans are openly trying to rig the system and silence voters because they fear the will of the people,” the Tennessee Democrats’ statement read.
But the Republican Vols aren’t the only ones suggesting a change in maps after the ruling; Georgia Republicans are also chiming in to support redistricting. Georgia’s GOP political leaders, including 2026 gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and businessman Rick Jackson, are calling for a map redrawing.
“Democrats nationally are trying to redistrict their way back to power, and what happened in Virginia is just the tip of the spear,” Jackson said in a statement. “There is no time to waste. Georgia must act now to ensure secure elections in Georgia and counter the Democrats’ national assault on our elections.”
Georgia currently has a congressional delegation with nine Republicans and five Democrats, though the state has two Democratic Senators.
Fourteen states, most of which are below the Mason-Dixon line, could be affected by the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Over a dozen states could seek to redistrict 33 congressional districts drawn in line with Section 2 of the VRA.
DEMOCRATS READY TO FIGHT AFTER SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN VOTING RIGHTS CASE
In Florida, the state House just passed a new congressional map that will likely give Republicans four more seats. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday as a means to bolster his GOP-friendly map.
“The decision implicates a district in FL — the legal infirmities of which have been corrected in the newly-drawn (and soon to be enacted) map,” DeSantis wrote on X.
