Trump allies notch redistricting win as judges find no 'smoking gun' to scrap red state map
A redrawn Tennessee congressional map expected to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage in congressional seats will remain in place for the state's Aug. 6 primary, handing President Donald Trump and...
By Fox News · Fox News
A redrawn Tennessee congressional map expected to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage in congressional seats will remain in place for the state's Aug. 6 primary, handing President Donald Trump and his allies another victory as they work to preserve the GOP's House majority ahead of the midterm elections. A three-judge panel on Thursday denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a group of Black Tennessee voters and civil rights organizations, who argued the map intentionally sought to weaken the power of Black voters. The lawsuit stems from Tennessee lawmakers redrawing the state's congressional map during a special session in May after the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which made it harder to challenge redistricting plans on racial discrimination grounds. The new map split Memphis and Shelby County into three congressional districts, effectively dismantling Tennessee's only majority-Black district. Republican lawmakers said the goal was to create a map that favored Republicans in all nine congressional districts and help preserve the GOP's majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. TENNESSEE PASSES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP LIKELY TO FLIP FINAL DEM SEAT AS PROTESTS ERUPT INSIDE CAPITOL The judges — two Trump-appointed judges and one appointed by President Barack Obama — concluded the evidence pointed to partisan politics as the driving force behind the redistricting. "At bottom, Plaintiffs won't succeed on their vote-dilution claim because they haven't presented meaningful evidence that race — not politics — motivated Tennessee's May 2026 map," the judges wrote. The judges contrasted the case with the Supreme Court's 2017 decision in Cooper v. Harris, where the High Court ruled that there was direct evidence that race influenced the redistricting process . SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR "Plaintiffs' evidence is a far cry from the 'smoking gun' direct evidence in Coope…