Tennessee Senator Outlines Exactly What’s Wrong with GOP Gerrymandering

As Tennessee Republicans push forward with a controversial redistricting effort set to disperse Black voting blocs in the state, Black leaders are pushing back. In cities like Memphis, where Black districts were previously protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, state lawmakers continue to raise concerns about potentially weakening Black political power in Memphis.

We spoke to state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, who urged all Black folks to pay attention. “You’re making their vote not really count because you’re diluting it so that there’s no way that the community of Black voters in Memphis can select a candidate of their choice,” she told us about the proposed maps. “Their vote is diluted and washed away because of how the district is stretched.”

Republicans passed the new map, which “dilutes” Black voting power this month. The move came as the latest GOP win for President Donald Trump, who championed gerrymandering efforts ahead of the November midterms. The plot was only solidified following a conservative ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which essentially gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

But while Republicans are celebrating this major victory, Akbari warned that redrawing the maps will only fracture Memphis voters by combining them with rural and suburban communities hundreds of miles away.

“You wanna try and keep people together because you know people in Memphis have different needs than people in rural Lake County at the top of the state or people in wealthy suburban Williamson County in the middle of the state,” the lawmaker explained. “You wouldn’t want vegans to represent ranchers, you wouldn’t want gun lovers to represent pacifists,” the lawmaker said, referring to former Ga. State Rep. Stacey Abrams.

Republican lawmakers backing the measure argue the maps are legally permissible and necessary for political realignment. But opponents noted Tennessee has historically avoided redrawing congressional districts outside the once-a-decade reapportionment process.

“We have a law in place in Tennessee where you are not allowed to redistrict a congressional district unless it’s after reapportionment,” Akbari said. “They are completely going to remove that law.”

The proposal has sparked fierce backlash from voting rights advocates, who say the effort is part of a broader national strategy to weaken Black political influence in Southern states. The GOP effort has been challenged in court, with the latest lawsuit coming from the NAACP and ACLU.

Meanwhile, the weeks-long process is costing taxpayers money, and if you ask Akbari, it’s a price that’s not worth paying. “We are here at a cost of over $60,000 per day to the taxpayers for the General Assembly,” the representative said. “We have a fiscal note on this bill that it will cost upwards of $3 million.”

Akbari also called out her Republican colleagues for not speaking out against Trump and his unprecedented call for redistricting. “We’ve seen this continued trend where Republicans and state legislatures across the country are trying to please Trump and his agenda, and they are doing things that they normally would not do,” she said. “My colleagues, who profess to believe in God, think that this is something that is just and fair and kind. No, this is a naked power grab that will impact Black people across this country, and I really fear what will happen next.”

The representative called it the “new Southern strategy,” adding, “You have people who have no alignment with your interests and your needs representing you in Congress, which means you actually don’t have representation.”

The lawmaker continued, “This will be the greatest blow to Black representation and Black political power since the end of Reconstruction.” Still, she remained hopeful that Black Americans would fight against the latest legislation.

“We’re going to vote, and we’re going to organize, and we’re going to fund races,” the representative said. “They can do whatever they want to do with these maps, but someone’s going to sue if they try.”