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War Room

Tennessee

Memphis split three ways · New map in force for Nov 3 · Pearson vs. Taylor in TN-09 · Federal challenges pending
Situation Report Updated Sept 10, 2026
The courts let the map stand for 2026. Memphis votes November 3 inside three districts drawn to split it — and the organizing starts there.

Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee's new congressional map on May 7, 2026, cracking Memphis's majority-Black 9th District and splitting Shelby County among three Republican-leaning districts — the 5th, 8th and 9th. Every effort to stop it before the election has fallen short. A state three-judge panel dismissed the NAACP Tennessee petition with prejudice on May 26. The Tennessee Democratic Party, Rep. Steve Cohen and state Rep. Justin J. Pearson dropped their federal suit in June, citing Louisiana v. Callais. On July 23, a federal three-judge panel denied a preliminary injunction in the ACLU's Sherman v. Hargett, finding that "political motivations readily explain the map's dilutive effects." The ACLU is pressing on for permanent relief — but the new map is the map for November 3. Cohen ended his re-election bid. In the August 6 primaries, Pearson (D) and state Sen. Brent Taylor (R) won the nominations in the new TN-09, which now runs roughly 200 miles toward Nashville and gave Trump about 60% of its 2024 vote. In TN-08, which takes the largest share of Shelby County, Rep. David Kustoff (R) faces Heidi Kuhn (D). In TN-05, Charlie Hatcher (R), who ousted Rep. Andy Ogles in the primary, faces Chaz Molder (D). The work now: every Memphis voter finds their new district, and turnout inside all three lines gets organized as one fight.

AI Analysis · Updated Sept 10, 2026
Strategic Intelligence Available Tennessee is tracked in our redistricting intelligence database — the TN-05 / TN-08 / TN-09 dispersal map, the litigation timeline, and Memphis organizing infrastructure under the new lines.
Districts at Risk
TN-09 · Redrawn · On the Nov 3 Ballot
Tennessee's 9th Congressional District
Open seat · Rep. Steve Cohen (D) not running · Nov 3: Justin J. Pearson (D) vs. Brent Taylor (R) + 2 independents
The old TN-09 was Memphis's seat — about 60% Black, anchored in Shelby County, and held by Rep. Steve Cohen since 2007. The May 7 map cracks Memphis's Black vote across three Republican-leaning districts and sends TN-09 roughly 200 miles east toward Nashville; 71% of its voters are new to the district. Harris won about 71% under the old lines; Trump won about 60% under the new ones. Cohen ended his re-election bid. On November 3, state Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D) and state Sen. Brent Taylor (R) head the ballot, with independents Dennis Clark and Michelle Davis Head also qualified. Tennessee's last majority-Black congressional district no longer exists — but the seat is on the ballot.
⚠ Cracked by May 7 Redraw — Contested Nov 3
TN-08 · Largest Share of Shelby County
Tennessee's 8th Congressional District
Rep. David Kustoff · R · Since 2017 · Nov 3: Kustoff (R) vs. Heidi Kuhn (D)
Under the new map, TN-08 takes in the largest portion of Shelby County, absorbing a major share of the former TN-09's voters into a Republican-held district. Kustoff, in office since 2017, ran unopposed in the August 6 GOP primary; outgoing Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn won the Democratic nomination. The dummymander logic applies: GOP map-drawers diluted Black voters across multiple districts, and the resulting compositions are more competitive than the surface lean suggests in a wave year. The infrastructure has to be built inside the new lines before they calcify — and with the courts declining to block the map for 2026, November 3 is the first test.
⚠ Dispersal Target — Build Inside
Recent Coverage
Al Jazeera · Aug 2026
Inside the results: How redistricting shaped Tennessee's primary election →
FOX 17 Nashville · Aug 2026
Justin Pearson, Brent Taylor projected to win Tenn. 9th Congressional District primaries →
Action News 5 · Aug 2026
Heidi Kuhn wins Democratic nomination for District 8 congressional seat →
NBC News · July 2026
Federal judges allow new Tennessee congressional map that divides majority-Black district in Memphis →
WSMV · June 2026
Tennessee Democrats dropped their federal lawsuit challenging the state's new congressional map. Here's why →
What the May 7 Map Did · Where It Stands for Nov 3
9–0
The Delegation the Map Was Drawn to Deliver
The old map sent one Democrat to Congress, from Memphis. The new one splits the city three ways so that every seat leans Republican. November 3 is the first election under it — and the first test of whether it holds.
0
Court Orders Blocking the Map for 2026
NAACP TN's state petition was dismissed with prejudice May 26. The TN Democratic Party's federal suit (Hale v. Lee) was voluntarily dropped in June. A federal panel denied a preliminary injunction in the ACLU's Sherman v. Hargett July 23; that case continues, as does the NAACP's federal suit (active as of June).
~60%
Black Share of the Old TN-09
Memphis's congressional anchor was about 60% Black before the May 7 redraw. Under the new map, no district in Tennessee is majority-minority — Shelby County is split among the 5th, 8th and 9th Districts.
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 split Shelby County's Black voters among the new 5th, 8th and 9th Districts, with the new TN-09 stretching roughly 200 miles east toward Nashville. The seat that elected a Democrat for nearly two decades now leans Republican by design — Trump won about 60% of its 2024 vote under the new lines.

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; court records and coverage of the challenges to the map — NAACP TN's state-court petition (dismissed May 26, 2026), the Tennessee Democratic Party's federal suit Hale v. Lee (voluntarily dismissed June 2026), the ACLU's Sherman v. Hargett (preliminary injunction denied July 23, 2026; pending), and the NAACP's federal suit; and published positions from NAACP Legal Defense Fund and ACLU of Tennessee. Candidates and results: Associated Press, FOX 17, Action News 5, Al Jazeera, and Tennessee Firefly (Aug. 6, 2026 primaries). 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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