Blackburn calls for Tennessee lawmakers to draw all-GOP map
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wants Tennessee to be the next stop on the redistricting front , calling on state lawmakers to draw new congressional lines that would wholly favor Republicans.
“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis,” Blackburn wrote Wednesday on the social platform X, alongside a map showing all of the state’s House districts as red.
“It’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America,” she added.
Blackburn is running to become the state’s next governor and vowed to “do everything” she can to make the new map a reality.
Republicans currently hold eight of nine House seats in Tennessee’s congressional delegation. Blackburn’s proposal would target the Memphis-based seat held by Democrat Steve Cohen, who handily won reelection in 2024 with 71 percent of the vote.
The GOP’s advantage in the Volunteer State began after the Republican-controlled legislature approved a new map in 2022 that split the Democratic stronghold of Nashville into three red-leaning districts, according to The Associated Press .
The capital city had been represented by Rep. Jim Cooper (D) for 20 years before that decision, but he decided not to seek reelection that year, and Republicans flipped the seats.
Blackburn’s push for another round of redistricting — mid-cycle this time — comes amid an ongoing tit-for-tat ahead of the November midterms, in which Republicans are defending a slim House majority.
The jockeying started last summer when President Trump pressed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to overhaul the state’s congressional map to gain five additional seats in the House.
Texas followed suit, enacting a new congressional map last August that was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since then, Republicans have also passed new maps in North Carolina and Missouri , while Democrats have gained pickup opportunities by redrawing lines in California and Vi r ginia and from a court-ordered map in U t ah .
Three other states, Maryland, South Carolina and Washington, have introduced legislation proposing or authorizing new maps, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.
Florida is the immediate next battlefield in the redistricting war, with state lawmakers convening this week for a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to take up the matter.
DeSantis released a new map on Monday aimed at helping the GOP notch four additional House seats in the midterms. The Florida legislature voted to approve the new congressional lines on Wednesday, sending the measure to the governor’s desk.
Updated at 3:53 p.m. EDT
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