Tennessee calls special session to redistrict maps at behest of Trump

At the behest of President Donald Trump , Tennessee’s Republican supermajority is returning to Nashville next week to redraw the state’s congressional maps, carving Memphis into multiple safe-Republican seats.

The session is made possible by the Supreme Court 's decision ending protections in the Voting Rights Act, made April 29.

Gov. Bill Lee issued a call for a special legislative session to approve new redistricting maps on the evening of May 1, one day after Trump announced on social media that Lee had promised to do so.

Lawmakers will return to Nashville on May 5.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee said.“After consultation with the Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible.”

Once in Nashville, the Republican supermajority legislature will have the votes to crack Memphis and draw nine new safe-Republican congressional seats in Tennessee and eliminate the last remaining Democrat-held seat.

Candidates are already campaigning in the 9th Congressional District — which will likely be redrawn during the special session. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, and state Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, have both gathered and filed qualifying signatures and have been actively campaigning.

Redrawing maps would suspend those campaigns and require candidates in every congressional district to gather new signatures and re-qualify for their races.

" Donald Trump wants an extra seat. And he wants to get it by directing how the districts are drawn and to say they should not be drawn as they are now — they should be drawn the way he wants to draw them to give him the vote," Cohen said on May 1.

"Civil rights are being attacked through this Supreme Court case. It's taking away potentially a goodly half of African American and African American-chosen representation in the United States Congress," Cohen said, pledging to launch a legal fight.

Lee’s call came hours after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called a special session to redraw the maps there, as predominantly Republican Southern states begin to take political advantage of the Supreme Court’s decision to roll back protections for Black voters in the Voting Rights Act.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee calls special session to draw new maps at behest of Trump