A three-judge panel on Thursday denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by a group of Black Tennessee voters and civil rights organizations, who argued the map intentionally sought to weaken the power of Black voters. The map, which was redrawn by Tennessee lawmakers during a special session in May, is expected to give Republicans a 9-0 advantage in congressional seats.

Background

The lawsuit stems from Tennessee lawmakers redrawing the state’s congressional map after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which made it harder to challenge redistricting plans on racial discrimination grounds. The new map split Memphis and Shelby County into three congressional districts, effectively dismantling Tennessee’s only majority-Black district.

Republican lawmakers said the goal was to create a map that favored Republicans in all nine congressional districts and help preserve the GOP’s majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The judges — two Trump-appointed judges and one appointed by President Barack Obama — concluded the evidence pointed to partisan politics as the driving force behind the redistricting.

The judges wrote, ‘At bottom, Plaintiffs won’t succeed on their vote-dilution claim because they haven’t presented meaningful evidence that race — not politics — motivated Tennessee’s May 2026 map.’ The judges contrasted the case with the Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in Cooper v. Harris, where the High Court ruled that there was direct evidence that race influenced the redistricting process.

Amber Sherman, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and an affected voter, called the panel’s rejection of the preliminary injunction ‘painful.’ She said, ‘The decisions by this court continue to further the disenfranchisement of Black voters in Memphis.’ The lawsuit remains ongoing.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.