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War Room

Tennessee

TN-09 eliminated · 4 lawsuits active · 9-0 Republican delegation · Cohen withdraws
Situation Report Updated May 21, 2026
The map is law. Four lawsuits filed. Cohen won't run under the new lines. The fight moves to the courts — and the streets.

Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee's new congressional map on May 7, 2026 — hours after passage. The 9th District is gone: Memphis's majority-Black seat is cracked into three Republican-controlled districts stretching hundreds of miles east. Tennessee now has a 9-0 Republican delegation. Zero Democrats. Zero Black representatives. On the floor, state Sen. Charlane Oliver stood on her desk holding a protest banner. Other Democratic senators locked arms in the chamber well. Three separate legal challenges were filed within 24 hours; a fourth followed. Judge William Campbell denied the TRO on May 14; a three-judge panel will hear the preliminary injunction. Rep. Steve Cohen announced May 15 he won't seek re-election under the new map. The legal path after Callais is narrow — but the state constitutional and intentional-discrimination arguments are real, and the organizing imperative inside the new lines starts now.

AI Analysis · Updated May 21, 2026
Strategic Intelligence Available Tennessee is tracked in our redistricting intelligence database — the TN-09 / TN-08 dispersal map, four-lawsuit timeline, and Memphis organizing infrastructure under the new lines.
Districts at Risk
TN-09 · Eliminated
Tennessee's 9th Congressional District
Rep. Steve Cohen · D · Since 2007 · Memphis · Won't seek re-election under new map
TN-09 was the seat of Memphis — a majority-Black district (~60% Black) anchored in Shelby County and held by Rep. Steve Cohen since 2007. On May 7, 2026, the Tennessee legislature signed a new congressional map that cracks Memphis's Black vote across three Republican-controlled districts, stretching the old TN-09 hundreds of miles east. Cohen announced May 15 he will not seek re-election under the new lines. The seat that was the last majority-Black congressional district in Tennessee no longer exists.
⚠ Eliminated by May 7 Redraw
TN-08 · Dispersal Absorption
Tennessee's 8th Congressional District
Rep. David Kustoff · R · West Tennessee + Memphis absorption
The new TN-08 absorbs approximately one-third of the former TN-09's Black voters into a Republican district running from east Memphis through the rural West Tennessee corridor. Trump won similar territory by 18 points in 2024. The dummymander logic applies: GOP map-drawers diluted Black voters across multiple districts, and the resulting compositions are more competitive than the surface PVI suggests in a wave year. The infrastructure has to be built inside the new lines before they calcify — and that work starts now, regardless of how the four court challenges resolve.
⚠ Dispersal Target — Build Inside
Recent Coverage
The Tri-State Defender · May 2026
Memphis loses its only majority-Black congressional seat as TN-09 dissolves under Lee's signature →
Tennessee Lookout · May 2026
Cohen announces he won't seek re-election under redrawn TN-09; four lawsuits remain active →
NAACP Tennessee · May 2026
NAACP TN files emergency state constitutional petition within three hours of map signing →
Democracy Docket · May 2026
Four Tennessee redistricting lawsuits — NAACP TN, Cohen + Pearson + TN Dems, ACLU 14th/15th Amendment, and Hale v. Lee →
The Tennessee Tribune · May 2026
Sen. Charlane Oliver stands on her desk in protest as Tennessee Senate eliminates state's only Black congressional seat →
What the May 7 Map Did
9–0
Tennessee's Post-Redraw Congressional Delegation
Zero Democrats. Zero Black representatives. For the first time in modern Tennessee history, the state's congressional delegation has no Black voice — and no Democratic check on the Republican supermajority.
4
Active Lawsuits Challenging the Map
NAACP TN state constitutional petition, Cohen + Pearson + TN Dems federal challenge, ACLU 14th/15th Amendment federal challenge, and Hale v. Lee. Judge Campbell denied the TRO May 14; a three-judge panel will hear the preliminary injunction.
~60%
Black Share of the Old TN-09
Memphis's congressional anchor was approximately 60% Black before the May 7 redraw. The new TN-09 is roughly 22% Black, with the dispersed voters absorbed into TN-08 (Kustoff, R) and the broader Republican map.
By the Numbers · TN-09

By The Numbers.

Two measures that show what the May 7 redraw actually did — the collapse of Memphis's majority-Black congressional seat and the dispersal of its electorate across the new map.

Black Population — TN-09 (pre-redraw)

Memphis's old TN-09 was nearly two-thirds Black — ~60% — and represented in Congress by Rep. Steve Cohen since 2007.

The pre-redraw district was anchored in Shelby County and Memphis proper, with a Black electorate that drove every recent Democratic victory in the state's congressional delegation. The May 7 map cracks that concentration into three Republican-controlled districts.

TN-09 (old)
~60%
Tennessee
~17%
U.S.
~12%
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates · pre-2026 lines
Black Population — TN-09 (post-redraw)

Under the May 7 map, the new TN-09 is only ~22% Black — a reduction of nearly two-thirds in a single redraw cycle.

The dispersal sent roughly one-third of the old TN-09's Black voters into Kustoff's TN-08, with the remainder split across the rural East Tennessee districts. The seat that elected a Democrat for 18 years is now structurally Republican by design.

TN-09 (new)
~22%
Tennessee
~17%
U.S.
~12%
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-year estimates · post-May 7 lines
Sources & Methodology

Population, voting-age population (VAP), and Black voting-age population (BVAP): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Partisan lean (PVI) and race ratings: Cook Political Report, with district-level updates following the May 7, 2026 redraw. Voter registration and file data: Tennessee Secretary of State public records, supplemented by commercial voter files from Catalist, L2, and TargetSmart. Map status and litigation: Tennessee General Assembly records, the four active lawsuits (NAACP TN, Cohen + Pearson + TN Dems, ACLU 14th/15th Amendment challenge, and Hale v. Lee), and published positions from NAACP Legal Defense Fund and ACLU of Tennessee. Coverage of Memphis Black political infrastructure: The Tri-State Defender, The Tennessee Tribune, and Memphis Flyer. Field intelligence: relayed from named partner organizations (Equity Alliance, NAACP Memphis Branch, Tennessee Black Voter Project) through coalition coordination.

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