NASHVILLE, Tenn. — State Rep. Justin Jones says the General Assembly’s new congressional map dilutes Black voters’ power statewide, linking the May 2026 plan that divided Memphis to the earlier cracking of Nashville.
Republican lawmakers in May approved revised congressional districts aimed at helping Republicans win all nine of the state’s U.S. House seats. Gov. Bill Lee approved the plan shortly after the special session. The General Assembly adopted the map during the Second Extraordinary Session of the 114th General Assembly held in May 2026.
Jones, a Nashville Democrat, said that before Memphis was split, Republicans had already divided Davidson County among three districts and diluted votes of communities of color. Tennessee once had two Democratic congressional districts; after Nashville was divided it was down to one, and after Memphis it could be down to zero.
The Secretary of State posted the new boundary lines and tools so voters can look up revised districts by address. Jones is running for reelection in House District 52 against Republican Michele Vetter and independent Martez Coleman.
Jones said he is traveling the South to protest Republican redistricting and focusing at home on election security concerns, including fears of intimidation at polling places. He said his team is working with churches so clergy or community leaders can accompany voters and encouraging people to vote in groups.
He framed the map fights as larger than one district, asking whether the country will keep a multiracial democracy. Affordability, he said, dominates conversations with constituents as midterms approach.
