The move came the same day that the Virginia Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Democrats by overturning a redistricting plan that could have helped Democrats win as many as four additional House seats. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina also presented congressional redistricting plans.
Republicans in Southern states have been moving quickly to try to capitalize on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case that struck down an effort there to design a district that went to great lengths to favor black voters. On Thursday, Tennessee enacted new congressional districts to deal with a race-based district in Memphis. The state Democratic Party sued on Friday, seeking to prevent the districts from being used until after this year's elections because of the tight time frame.
During debate inside the statehouse, black lawmakers sharply criticized Republican legislation that would ignore the May 19 primary for some congressional seats and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under revised districts, if a court allows it.
Republican Sen. Greg Albritton said the special primary would happen only if the courts agree to lift an injunction that put a court-selected map in place until after the 2030 Census.
“Should there be no court order issued, then this bill would have no effect,” Albritton said.
