Southern Republicans press ahead with election-year redistricting
AP News • • nation
Key Points:
- Republican lawmakers in Southern states, including Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina, are aggressively pursuing redistricting plans that could dismantle majority-Black congressional districts following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting race-based districting.
- In Tennessee, Republicans proposed splitting Memphis’ Shelby County into three districts, breaking up the state's only Democratic-held district, prompting protests and accusations of Black vote dilution from civil rights advocates.
- South Carolina Republicans are moving forward with a proposal to redraw the 6th Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Jim Clyburn, raising concerns about potential political backlash and increased competitiveness in the state.
- Alabama is debating legislation to hold special primaries if courts allow it to revise its congressional map to reduce the number of majority-Black districts, a move criticized by Black legislators as a regression to Jim Crow-era practices.
- These redistricting efforts come amid heightened national tensions over control of the U.S. House in the upcoming midterm elections, with both parties eyeing potential gains as new maps are adopted in multiple states.
