News and updates on the impact of redistricting in Tennessee and Mississippi and the lawsuits challenging redistricting.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said Friday that he is exiting the August Congressional primaries after the Tennessee General Assembly redrew the state’s district lines, dividing Memphis among three Congressional districts and drawing Cohen out of the 9th District seat he’s held for 20 years.

A federal judge dealt a serious blow to Democrats by denying their request for a temporary restraining order against implementing new congressional maps.

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Fourth lawsuit filed against Tennessee’s new congressional map

Tennessee’s League of Women Voters and NAACP file suit against state election officials over the new congressional map, which passed last week in a whirlwind three-day special session.

Emails from The Associated Press to the U.S. Department of Justice and a spokesperson for the task force were not returned on Wednesday morning.

The contract extension for attorney Justin Bailey would keep him employed with the district for at least three more years. 

The move came as a result of Democrats’ actions on the House floor May 7 during a vote on new a congressional map that splits majority-Democratic Shelby County into three different districts.

The plaintiffs in one of the federal cases against Tennessee’s new congressional maps have filed an emergency motion for an expedited ruling.

Pearson declares ahead of a Friday filing deadline for the congressional seats with new district lines.

Metro editor Jane Donahoe says Memphis often makes more national news than it should for a city of its size, and last week was no exception. 

The ACLU has joined the NAACP, Tennessee voters and Congressional candidates and the Tennessee Democratic Party in suing the state over its new mid-census Congressional map.

The resolution is not binding on state lawmakers, who have already passed the controversial plan. Council members also take a look at affordable housing in Orange Mound.

This political roundup dives into the surprising number of write-ins in the Shelby County primary races, a short — and litigious — history of redistricting in Tennessee and more. 

The Tennessee Democratic Party supported multiple events and several rallies during the three-day special session that led to the map’s passage into law.

The district attorney says false “soft on crime” charges levied against his office by Sen. Marsha Blackburn and state Sen. Brent Taylor are being used to score points with their Republican base.

A new Tennessee Congressional map has left many Memphians wondering what district they’re in, but the Tennessee Comptroller now has resources.

The Tennessee State Board of Education is among at least five state boards that appoint members in alignment with the congressional map. 

“We have specific needs, and we need a representative in Congress that can speak to those needs,” Memphis Mayor Paul Young told The Daily Memphian Thursday.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee also signed several more bills related to redistricting.

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Cohen to sue over redrawn congressional map

Brent Taylor to seek Tenn. District 9 Congressional seat

Taylor said he would “fight to cement Tennessee’s conservative legacy for generations to come.”

The 30 state Democrats all wore white Thursday in a silent protest supporting voting rights.

“We’ve been campaigning hard since the filing deadline ... and that’s a First Amendment violation, so there will be a lawsuit in state court,” Cohen said. 

Lawmakers passed a new congressional map that split Shelby County into three different congressional districts, less than a week after Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session on the matter.

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State Democrats wore white to Thursday’s vote. Here’s why.

“Why are (lawmakers) afraid of having to work for everyone’s vote?” asked a Memphis community organizer as people across the state and beyond came to protest a Republican-led effort to redraw the state’s congressional map.

TJ Hardaway heads to Nashville to take his seat in the state House for an anticipated Thursday vote on a Republican plan to redraw the boundaries of the state’s nine Congressional districts.