Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the reigning queen of the confidently incorrect, recently took her traveling circus of ignorance to the University of Chicago, where she somberly warned that GOP redistricting would &#8220;wipe out every black representative on the map&#8221; in Tennessee — a state that, in reality, has zero black representatives in Congress.
It takes a special kind of &#8220;Economics Guru&#8221; to mourn the extinction of something that doesn&#8217;t exist, but for AOC, the facts have always been a secondary concern to the &#8220;vibes&#8221; of radical grievance.
“When you’re watching states like Tennessee, watching wipe out every black representative on the map in these states, we have an obligation as Americans to stand with black Americans and communities whose representation is being disenfranchised,” Ocasio-Cortez pontificated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
AOC on the new Tennessee Congressional map which would eliminate the last Democrat seat: 
“States like Tennessee want to wipe out every Black Representative”
The current Democrat Rep is a White guy and his Republican opponent is a Black woman.
Can’t make this up <a href="https://t.co/ZDWojmaHCC">pic.twitter.com/ZDWojmaHCC</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2053901252547760342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The deep-blue district wiped out by Tennessee&#8217;s redistricting has been represented by Democrat Steve Cohen for nearly 20 years.
Speaking at the Institute of Politics — founded by Obama advisor David Axelrod — Ocasio-Cortez didn’t stop at hallucinating Tennessee’s congressional delegation. She pivoted to a historical rewrite that would make a Soviet propagandist blush, asserting that the American Revolution was actually a war against the &#8220;billionaires of their time.&#8221;
The reality, of course, is that the Revolution was bankrolled by the wealthiest men in the colonies — men like John Hancock and Robert Morris. Morris worked in tandem with Chaim Solomon, a Polish-born Jewish-American who went bankrupt financing the Continental Army. They didn’t fight to overthrow wealth but used their wealth to secure liberty. Unlike the failed, blood-soaked revolutions of France or Russia — fueled by the exact brand of class envy AOC propagates — the American founding wasn&#8217;t predicated on pillaging the successful.
But this brand of &#8220;oatmeal for brains&#8221; logic is AOC’s stock-in-trade. Her greatest hits of stupidity include:
<ul>
<li data-path-to-node="4,0,0">The Amazon Blunder: She famously bragged about &#8220;saving&#8221; New York $3 billion by chasing Amazon out of Queens, fundamentally failing to understand that a tax break isn’t a bag of cash sitting in a vault. You can&#8217;t &#8220;spend&#8221; money that a company never brings to the city.</li>
<li data-path-to-node="4,1,0">The Billionaire Myth: On a recent podcast with Ilana Glazer, she claimed it is impossible to &#8220;earn&#8221; a billion dollars, suggesting wealth only comes from &#8220;breaking rules.&#8221; Apparently, inventing a product that millions of people value is just &#8220;market power&#8221; and &#8220;abuse.&#8221;</li>
<li data-path-to-node="4,2,0">Gun Law Illiteracy: She once told Chris Cuomo that &#8220;guns are not allowed in the District of Columbia,&#8221; a statement that came as a shock to the thousands of D.C. residents with legal permits and the members of Congress who, by law, are allowed to keep firearms in their offices.</li>
</ul>
Whether she is shrieking about &#8220;wage theft&#8221; (which she defines as a company not paying what she thinks they should) or claiming the unemployment rate is low because everyone has two jobs, Ocasio-Cortez remains the ultimate proof that in the modern Democratic Party, historical literacy and basic math are entirely optional.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC Hallucinates Non-Existent Black Democrat Rep In Tennessee

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Democrat

Redistricting

Tennessee

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for Alabama Republicans to pursue a congressional voting map more favorable to the GOP ahead of November&#8217;s midterm elections, the latest fallout from the court&#8217;s seismic voting rights ruling.
The justices lifted a lower court&#8217;s decision that had blocked state Republicans&#8217; preferred map as racially discriminatory and for illegally diluting the voting power of black Alabamians.
Federal courts had previously ruled Alabama&#8217;s map likely violated the Voting Rights Act by failing to create a second majority-black district in the state.
The Supreme Court said the lower courts must reconsider previous rulings in light of the high court&#8217;s recent decision in the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a majority-black district in that state as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling limited how race can be used in drawing congressional districts under the Voting Rights Act. President Donald Trump called on states to redraw maps after that decision.
Alabama is expected to revert to a map passed in 2023, which would reduce the number of districts where black voters comprise a majority or near-majority from two to one of the state&#8217;s seven U.S. House districts.
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-clears-path-alabama-redraw-congressional-map/">According</a> to CBS News, the ruling &#8220;appears to be 6 to 3.&#8221; Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by fellow liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, broke with the majority in a written dissent, arguing the lower court&#8217;s conclusion that Alabama deliberately discriminated against black voters should remain in place. Sotomayor was the only justice to disclose their vote publicly, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5873190-supreme-court-alabama-redistricting/">reported</a>.
The ruling could reshape control of the U.S. House by allowing states to redraw maps to reduce minority-opportunity districts.
Alabama is one of several red Southern states attempting to redraw its congressional map before the November midterms.
Tennessee lawmakers approved a congressional map expected to hand Republicans control of all nine of the Volunteer State&#8217;s congressional districts. The map, signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, spreads out the heavily Democratic population centers in Memphis and Nashville across multiple Republican-favorable districts and is likely to eliminate the state&#8217;s lone Democratic seat, currently held by Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis.
In Florida, Republicans led by Gov. Ron DeSantis passed new congressional district boundaries projected to give the GOP four additional House seats.
Lawmakers in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Mississippi are also reviewing potential redistricting plans that could further shift seats to Republicans.
Before the Supreme Court decision last week, Alabama had been required to maintain one majority-black district and a second with a near-majority black population under an interpretation of the Voting Rights Act that has now been ruled an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. After the ruling, Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, <a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/attorney-general-marshall-applauds-momentous-supreme-court-redistricting-decision/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the state would move quickly to ensure its maps “reflect the will of the people, not a racial quota system the Constitution forbids.”
“The Court rightly acknowledged that the South has made extraordinary progress, and that laws designed for a different era do not reflect the present reality,” Marshall stated.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Rally over voting rights and redistricting outside the state capitol in Montgomery

Supreme Court Move Puts Alabama Redistricting Back In Play

Alabama

Courts

Politics

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

Voting Rights Act

Democrats are considering a radical plan to forcibly replace the entire Virginia Supreme Court after Democrat-favorable congressional maps were struck down last week. 
A proposal to force out the current court by lowering the mandatory retirement age for justices was considered Friday during a call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and top Virginia Democrats, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/us/politics/democrats-virginia-plans-gerrymandering.html">reported</a>. The plan would force out all current justices and give the legislature, narrowly controlled by Democrats, the opportunity to pack it with more partisan justices. 
A case would then be brought to challenge the creation of Virginia&#8217;s so-called independent redistricting commission. If that commission was struck down, Democrats could then draw new election maps to their favor.
The proposal would involve lowering the retirement age from 75 to at least 54, the age of the youngest justice currently on the bench. That plan was openly supported by Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a participant in the call. 
“Everyone has got to have a strong stomach right now; this is a complete disaster waiting to happen if people are timid,” he told the Times. “We have Republican states ignoring their constitutions and interrupting early voting and ignoring their Supreme Courts all together. We know based on that, Republicans would explore every single option possible to move this forward.”
The map struck down as unconstitutional on Friday was expected to give Democrats a 10-1 advantage in Virginia’s House delegation come November, up from their current 6-5 edge. In a 4-3 decision, Virginia&#8217;s Supreme Court ruled that the state&#8217;s &#8220;violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void.&#8221; 
Jeffries has suggested appealing to the Supreme Court, though it is unclear what grounds the nation’s high court would weigh in on. 
Voters in Virginia narrowly approved the new gerrymandered maps in April after Democrat-aligned groups spent over $64 million supporting redistricting. 
Campaign filings show that <a href="https://www.virginiansforfairelections.com/">Virginians for Fair Elections</a>, the leading Democrat-aligned group backing the gerrymandered map, <a href="https://cfreports.elections.virginia.gov/Committee/Index/a5d5d000-0875-419d-b056-4245a6cca40f">raised</a> more than $64 million between January and April 2026. That total was more than double the amount raised by Republican-aligned groups opposing redistricting.
Much of the money raised came from House Majority Forward, which contributed nearly $39 million, according to campaign filings. The group describes itself as a “progressive, non-profit organization committed to promoting economic growth and opportunity, social justice, environmental stewardship, and democracy in the United States of America.”
The ruling by the court meant that Republicans appeared to have come out ahead in the nationwide redistricting battle, with states like Tennessee and Florida adopting new maps expected to make their congressional delegations redder.

CBC VRA Presser

Democrats Float Dramatic Shakeup That Could Force Out Virginia’s Entire Supreme Court

2026 Midterms

Democrats

U.S. Politics

Virginia

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a state referendum that would have allowed Democrats to pick up five blue seats, delivering a devastating blow in the party&#8217;s redistricting battle with Republicans.  
In April, voters narrowly approved a redistricting referendum that diluted the voting power of rural areas and gave state Democrats a 10–1 advantage in Congressional representation.
<a href="https://www.vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1260127.pdf">In a 4-3 ruling</a>, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down the referendum, ruling that Democratic lawmakers violated procedural rules.
&#8220;In this case, the Commonwealth submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to Virginia voters in an unprecedented manner that violated the intervening-election requirement in Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia. This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,&#8221; the court ruled.
President Donald Trump celebrated the ruling <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116539521227824996">on Truth Social</a>.
&#8220;Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia. The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&#8221;
The decision marks a stinging defeat for Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), who aggressively pursued the measure, despite previously saying she had “<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5469556-governor-spanberger-redistricting-plans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no plans</a>” to pursue redistricting.
“Justice has been served. From the beginning, this was the most obvious violation of Virginia’s Constitution. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in Richmond knowingly violated our constitution to disenfranchise millions of Virginians,” former <a href="https://x.com/GlennYoungkin/status/2052754158844096555?s=20">Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin said</a>. “The Constitution prevailed, and Virginians will never forget this unlawful attempt to rob them of their voice in Congress.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom had a different reaction, claiming <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2052770598368264693?s=20">&#8220;MAGA has rigged the system.&#8221;</a>
Tossing out the 10-1 Democratic maps reflects an intensifying nationwide redistricting fight that may favor Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.
On Thursday, Tennessee Republican lawmakers enacted a new congressional map that would wipe out the last Democratic congressional seat. In late April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a congressional map that could eliminate up to four blue seats. Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina are also expected to redraw their maps after the Supreme Court sharply restricted the use of race-based redistricting.
This is a breaking story. Refresh the page for updates.

Virginia Democrats Seek To Redraw House Maps In 2026 Midterm Push

Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Redistricting In Brutal Blow To Democrats

A Tennessee Democrat pushed a state trooper and screamed in his face as tempers flared when lawmakers gathered to approve new Republican-backed congressional maps on Thursday.
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson (D), known for his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/there-is-nothing-off-the-table-tennessee-dem-says-anything-goes-in-fight-against-fascist-gop">tirades</a> against the state&#8217;s conservative majority and his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fake-southern-preacher-videos-show-expelled-tennessee-lawmakers-oratorical-transformation">shapeshifting personality</a>, got into a confrontation with state troopers who were attempting to secure the state capitol as leftist protesters converged on the area. In a video captured by ABC&#8217;s Nashville affiliate WKRN, state troopers appeared to be attempting to detain a man when Pearson stepped in and shoved the trooper&#8217;s arm away.
&#8220;Move the f*ck back!&#8221; Pearson shouted as he stared down the law enforcement officer.
The state trooper backed away and held his arms in the air as Pearson continued to berate him and call him &#8220;boy.&#8221;
&#8220;What the f*ck is wrong with you?&#8221; Pearson screamed. &#8220;What the f*ck is wrong with you? You stupid motherf*cker!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Warning: explicit language
Rep. Pearson came to the gallery as troopers appeared to arrest a demonstrator. There’s a heated exchange. <a href="https://t.co/Dq76zVrTtW">pic.twitter.com/Dq76zVrTtW</a>
— Tori Gessner (@ToriGessnerTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToriGessnerTV/status/2052404638410735643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Pearson&#8217;s meltdown occurred just before Tennessee Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brutal-blow-for-democrats-in-red-state-sparks-leftist-outrage?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Brutal+Blow+For+Democrats+In+Red+State+Sparks+Leftist+Outrage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> on Thursday to approve new congressional maps that will likely wipe out the Democrats&#8217; only U.S. House seat in the state. Republican Governor Bill Lee signed the bill into law shortly after the vote. The special session in Tennessee&#8217;s capital was quickly organized after the Supreme Court ruled that certain majority-black districts put in place by the Voting Rights Act amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
During the special session, hundreds of protesters entered the state capitol and claimed that state Republicans were enacting &#8220;Jim Crow 2.0&#8221; and &#8220;Modern Apartheid.&#8221; Another video captured by WKRN showed leftist protesters refusing to leave the Capitol building after state troopers began clearing the gallery.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Some protestors are now refusing to leave and chanting in the gallery. <a href="https://t.co/uYtLGiltOq">pic.twitter.com/uYtLGiltOq</a>
— Tori Gessner (@ToriGessnerTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToriGessnerTV/status/2052401991725306142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rep. Steve Cohen, who currently serves the lone Democratic district in Tennessee that has been upended by the new map, <a href="https://x.com/RepCohen/status/2052481665080213523">accused</a> Republicans of &#8220;enforc[ing] a racial gerrymander of Memphis.&#8221;
&#8220;Trump knows he HAS TO rig the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. It’s shameful. Next stop is the courts,&#8221; Cohen added.
Republican state leaders celebrated the vote as the party will likely boast a 9-0 advantage in Tennessee&#8217;s Congressional delegation come November.
“It’s a great day for Tennessee! Thank you to President [Donald Trump] for leading the charge, Governor [Bill Lee], and to the legislators who worked quickly and diligently to make this possible,” Blackburn posted on X. “This is how we cement President Trump’s agenda and usher in America’s Golden Age here in Tennessee, and how we become America’s conservative leader.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Justin Pearson

WATCH: Democrat Shoves State Trooper, Screams In His Face As Redistricting Protest Turns Ugly

The FBI raided an office and a cannabis dispensary connected to Virginia Democratic State Senate leader Louise Lucas, a key figure in the congressional redistricting battle.
The raid, which took place on Wednesday morning, was related to a public corruption investigation, a source familiar with the search told The Daily Wire. Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan told Fox News host Harris Faulkner that federal agents were executing &#8220;court-authorized criminal search warrants&#8221; at Lucas&#8217;s office in Portsmouth, Virginia — and a dispensary next door.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NOW: An FBI raid is unfolding at the office of Virginia Democratic State Sen. Louise Lucas — and it’s already drawing serious attention.
Multiple people on the scene are reportedly being taken into custody as agents move through the area.
The office sits near several cannabis… <a href="https://t.co/WIcn9xrzOy">pic.twitter.com/WIcn9xrzOy</a>
— Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/2052047300961182188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The FBI is currently carrying out a raid at the office of Senator Louise Lucas in Portsmouth, VA. Here at this nearby cannabis dispensary, at least three people were taken into custody. Federal law enforcement say they’re conducting “court authorized criminal search warrants”. <a href="https://t.co/UL2c7yAk0L">pic.twitter.com/UL2c7yAk0L</a>
— Alex Hogan (@AlexHoganTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexHoganTV/status/2052049720147640820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;All of the staffers inside this building were told to come outside, I could hear them saying that they were not allowed back in the building,&#8221; Hogan said, reporting from the street in front of Lucas&#8217;s office. &#8220;Throughout the last hour, we&#8217;ve been seeing the FBI come and go, carrying boxes out of the building.&#8221;
&#8220;Just across the parking lot, next to where I am, there&#8217;s a cannabis dispensary, we know that the state senator is associated with several cannabis locations and dispensaries, and what we&#8217;re seeing is there a completely different scene with SWAT teams arrived with guns drawn, telling anyone in the building to come out of the building with their hands up.&#8221;
Hogan said that she&#8217;d also seen three people taken, put on the ground, cuffed, and taken into custody as the events of the morning had played out.
Lucas herself appeared on the scene at one point during the raid, and when Hogan asked for her reaction to the law enforcement action, she said that she had &#8220;no idea&#8221; what the FBI was doing there. Hogan confirmed that at least ten locations were being &#8220;looked at&#8221; by federal agents in connection with the same case.
The probe, Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin reported, was launched during former President Joe Biden&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2052089902561476706">administration</a>.
Lucas, the President Pro Tempore of the Virginia Senate, was a key player in her party&#8217;s efforts to gerrymander a dramatic Democratic advantage in Virginia&#8217;s congressional map. She has often jabbed at newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), claiming that she has a &#8220;credibility problem.&#8221;
Wednesday&#8217;s raid was not Lucas&#8217;s first <a href="https://www.whro.org/local-news/2020-11-16/judge-dismisses-charges-against-sen-louise-lucas">brush with the law</a>, as she was previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-democrat-charged-with-multiple-felonies-for-her-alleged-role-in-destroying-statue">charged</a> with felony conspiracy and <span data-subtree="aimfl,mfl" data-processed="true" data-copy-service-computed-style="font-family: &quot;Google Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-color: rgb(10, 10, 10);">injury to a monument exceeding $1,000 after she took part in a 2020 protest where a Confederate monument was vandalized.
Her Democrat allies in the state, from then-Governor Ralph Northam to former-Governor Terry McAuliffe, suggested that Lucas was only charged because she was black. Portsmouth <a href="https://www.whro.org/local-news/2020-11-16/portsmouth-police-chief-angela-greene-fired">Police Chief Angela Greene</a>, who charged Lucas and 18 others who participated in the protest, was also black. Greene was fired before Lucas&#8217;s case was even heard, and the city officials responsible for her termination would only say that it was &#8220;a personnel matter&#8221; and that she could be fired at any time because she was an &#8220;at-will&#8221; employee. The charges against Lucas were dropped later that same year.
She also made headlines during the 2025 Virginia election cycle when she backed Attorney General Jay Jones (D-VA) after text messages surfaced in which he&#8217;d fantasized about shooting a Republican lawmaker. Posting an image that said &#8220;Virginia is for lovers, not snitches,&#8221; Lucas made it clear that her anger was directed at the people who&#8217;d exposed Jones rather than the candidate himself, who&#8217;d advocated for political violence.
As The Daily Wire&#8217;s Luke Rosiak <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-virginia-dem-depicts-jay-jones-assaulting-opponent-lashes-out-at-snitch">reported</a>, Lucas announced her plan to push ahead with her extra-legal redistricting efforts even then.
<blockquote>Lucas also reposted a comment calling her “ruthless,” and said she intends to redistrict the state (where Republican candidates received 43%, 45%, and 47% of the vote on Tuesday) has only a <a href="https://x.com/SenLouiseLucas/status/1985946539311702233" target="_blank" rel="noopener">single Republican</a> in Congress.
That would involve a similarly ruthless move. Democrats enacted a 45-day early voting period, which caused some people to vote before learning about Jones’ support for violence. But for purposes of amending the Constitution to get rid of nonpartisan redistricting – which requires giving voters the chance to punish politicians at the ballot box for trying such a move – they ignored the fact that many had already cast ballots before they initiated the controversial move, counting only Tuesday as the “election.”
Outgoing Attorney General Miyares issued an opinion saying that it would be illegal, but Lucas <a href="https://x.com/SenLouiseLucas/status/1983333834138759316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said,</a> “Your opinions are sh*t. They’re f*cking sh*t.”</blockquote>
The newly drawn <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-legal-fight-over-virginias-redistricting-has-just-begun">Virginia map</a> passed in an April election, but legal challenges have put the measure on hold.

Investiture Held For Cleo Powell, First Black Chief Justice Of Virginia’s Supreme Court

A Dem Power Broker’s Wild Morning As FBI Raids Hit Her Cannabis Dispensary

Feds Raid Office And Dispensary Tied To High-Powered Democrat

abigail spanberger

Confederacy

Statues

Tennessee Republican lawmakers released new election maps Wednesday that would wipe out the last Democratic congressional seat. 
The map release from the GOP leadership in the state House and Senate comes on the second day of a special session called by Governor Bill Lee to redraw congressional maps. The maps would split up Memphis, currently the only area represented by a Democrat in Congress, into three favorable Republican districts. 
Plans to redraw the maps followed last week&#8217;s Supreme Court decision striking down a Louisiana majority-black congressional district as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander — a ruling that weakened Voting Rights Act regulations and prompted President Donald Trump to call on Republican states to respond accordingly.
“The Supreme Court has opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be color-blind,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said Wednesday, sharing an image of the proposed map. “The decision indicated states can redistrict based off partisan politics. Today, Tennessee joins other red and blue states in redrawing their congressional maps.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Supreme Court has opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be color-blind. The decision indicated states can redistrict based off partisan politics. Today, Tennessee joins other red and blue states in redrawing their congressional maps. <a href="https://twitter.com/ltgovmcnally?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ltgovmcnally</a> <a href="https://t.co/lOeBf5tGMF">pic.twitter.com/lOeBf5tGMF</a>
— Speaker Cameron Sexton (@CSexton25) <a href="https://twitter.com/CSexton25/status/2052025699146310048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tennessee&#8217;s current congressional delegation features eight Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis. 
In addition to splitting the heavily Democrat Memphis area into three larger Republican districts, the map divides up Democrat-leaning Davidson County, where Nashville is located, into multiple larger GOP districts. 
“Tennessee is a conservative state and our congressional delegation should reflect that,” GOP State Sen. John Stevens said on Wednesday. “This bill ensures it does.”
The proposed map is expected to advance through committee today and go to both the state House and Senate for approval on Wednesday. 
Hundreds of leftist activists from around the state converged at the state capitol building on the first day of the special session to protest the redistricting push. Protesters held signs like “Protect Black Votes” and “No Jim Crow.” 
Cohen, a white man who has represented the Memphis area for nearly two decades, called the plans to redistrict racist. 
&#8220;This is insane. The GOP&#8217;s newly proposed TN Congressional maps would have people in Shelby County all the way to Williamson County — 200+ miles apart — being &#8216;represented&#8217; by the same Congressman,&#8221; Cohen said Wednesday. &#8220;It&#8217;s a blatant, corrupt power grab that would destroy the black community&#8217;s and our entire city&#8217;s voice.&#8221;
Prominent state GOP officials immediately called for the congressional maps to be redrawn after the Supreme Court decision. 
“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It&#8217;s essential to cement [Trump’s] agenda and the Golden Age of America,” Senator Marsha Blackburn said shortly after the decision was released. “I&#8217;ve vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I&#8217;ll do everything I can to make this map a reality.”

Trump Says Tennessee To Redraw District Maps To Boost GOP

Red State Charges Ahead With Plan To Erase Final Dem Seat

On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court sided with fairness and the rule of law in its opinion in Louisiana v. Callais, which returned the Voting Rights Act to its original intent: to protect against intentional racial discrimination. This decision doesn’t discriminate; it says we are all Americans. It restores equal protection under the law, which should be easy for all of us to celebrate. The court sided with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision for a colorblind society and said that racial preferencing doesn’t belong in our elections, just as it doesn’t belong in college admissions.
Following the ruling, I immediately called for our Tennessee state legislature to reconvene as soon as possible to redraw our map — this should yield another conservative seat. From hosting campaign schools to supporting strong conservatives up and down the ballot, I&#8217;ve worked to keep Tennessee a red state, and now we have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure Tennessee has nine solid Republican congressional seats by revisiting the state’s Ninth Congressional District, home to the solidly Democratic area of Memphis.
As governor, I&#8217;ll work tirelessly to make this map a reality, but the fact of the matter is, we can’t wait that long. The legislature must reconvene as soon as possible to pass a new map for it to be in effect for this year’s elections.
I was encouraged when President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116494706928688681">posted on Truth Social</a>: “I had a very good conversation with Governor Bill Lee, of Tennessee, this morning, wherein he stated that he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee. Likewise, all of the other Political Representatives of Tennessee have promised to do so.”
Since the ruling, liberals have bemoaned that redrawing the lines would create a “lack of representation,” but it’s funny, I’ve never heard a liberal bemoan the lack of conservative representation in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Hawaii, or Delaware.
There is no doubt: Tennessee is a conservative state — we don’t have a state income tax, we don’t allow illegals to run our state, we fight to protect faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity, and I want to keep it that way. In fact, that’s why I’m running for governor. We have the potential to be America’s conservative leader. But this is bigger than the Volunteer State; the trajectory of our country is at risk.
If we are to make Tennessee America’s true conservative leader, this is where it begins.
As Donald Trump himself said, this will &#8220;help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization[sic], Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more.”
Immediately passing a new, 9-0 map is essential to cementing President Trump’s America First agenda and America’s Golden Age. I will do everything I can to support the legislators who take up this mantle and help us secure the future of our state and of our great nation.
***
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is the state’s senior senator. She is also running for governor.

Flag of the US State of Tennessee

Marsha Blackburn: Redraw Tennessee’s Lines Now

DW Opinion

Marsha Blackburn

On Wednesday, after the Supreme Court ruled that the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination forbids race-based redistricting, former President Barack Obama issued a screed denouncing the decision that was, in turn, harshly criticized on social media.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities &#8211; so long as they do it under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias,’” Obama wrote on X. “And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach. The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers &#8211; not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election and every level.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities &#8211; so long as they do it under the guise of…
&mdash; Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/2049561079605588184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The response came quickly:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
You have absolutely lost your mind.
YOU were the guy who was supposed to get us PAST sorting people by race.
You said judge people by character not color.
Now you&#39;re calling it &quot;voter suppression&quot; when the Court strikes down a district drawn ENTIRELY BY SKIN COLOR??!!
The… <a href="https://t.co/2NQ5Xq8Xmh">pic.twitter.com/2NQ5Xq8Xmh</a>
&mdash; Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattvanswol/status/2049579727061463538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
As with tour characterization of Citizens United, not true! Today’s voting-rights blockbuster was the right call and a victory for the colorblind Constitution. The bottom line is that the Voting Rights Act doesn’t require majority-minority districts and states can’t use race to…
&mdash; Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/ishapiro/status/2049590119485632845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I can’t imagine being a nations first black president and wanting to take them all the way backwards on race but if you like your garbage legacy you can KEEP your garbage legacy.
&mdash; Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfailla/status/2049577005146845426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
It was pointed out that the districts as apportioned in Illinois, Obama’s home state, which is run by Democrats, are crazy:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
lol. This is your home state <a href="https://t.co/95DsjmFZox">pic.twitter.com/95DsjmFZox</a>
&mdash; Megan Basham (@megbasham) <a href="https://twitter.com/megbasham/status/2049628329876009449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
As well as the current map of Lousiana’s districts, which is well-nigh ridiculous:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
These are the 2 illegal racially gerrymandered districts that the Supreme Court overturned. Any fair map of Louisiana will look nothing like this 👇 <a href="https://t.co/UOzzq2Hus4">pic.twitter.com/UOzzq2Hus4</a>
&mdash; Izengabe (@Izengabe_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Izengabe_/status/2049604602404696464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, stated, “Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to enforce the Constitution — not collide with it. Unfortunately, lower courts have sometimes applied this Court’s precedents in a way that forces States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids.”
“Allowing race to play any part in government decision making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context,” he continued.
Obama’s denigrative use of the phrase “guise of partisanship” was a deliberate attempt to ignore that the Supreme Court opinion was in strict line with the fact that the United States is a constitutional republic. As Alito explained, “Disapproval of partisan gerrymandering dates back to the founding. But partisan gerrymandering claims are not justiciable in federal court. Thus, in considering the constitutionality of a districting scheme, courts must treat partisan advantage like any other race-neutral aim: a constitutionally permissible criterion that States may rely on as desired. For this reason, as we have repeatedly made clear, when a State defends a districting scheme on the ground that it was drawn for partisan purposes, plaintiffs have a ‘special’ burden to overcome.”

US-POLITICS-RIGHTS-JACKSON

‘Absolutely Lost Your Mind’: Obama Ripped After Criticizing Latest Supreme Court Decision

Barack Obama

Elections

gerrymandering

Louisiana

Race

A newly approved Florida congressional map could eliminate up to four Democratic-held seats ahead of the November midterm elections, intensifying a nationwide redistricting fight.
Florida Republicans, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, passed the map on Wednesday <a href="https://x.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2049508175368315113?s=20">over loud liberal opposition</a>, sending it to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk. DeSantis is expected to sign the bill. 
The redrawn districts target Democratic seats in the Tampa, Orlando, and South Florida areas, aiming to flip them to Republican control. Democrats currently hold seven of Florida&#8217;s 28 districts. 
Under the plan, Florida Democratic Reps. Kathy Castor, Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz could face significantly tougher re-election fights. 
If enacted, the map would reflect the Sunshine State&#8217;s broader political shift in recent years. Once a swing state that backed Barack Obama twice, Florida has moved decisively to the Right, with Republicans now holding a roughly 1.5 million-voter registration advantage.
&#8220;Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ron-desantis-unveils-new-florida-congressional-map-would-give-gop-extra-four-seats">DeSantis told Fox News Digital</a>. &#8220;Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.&#8221;
The push to redraw Florida&#8217;s map coincides with a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdf">bombshell</a> Supreme Court ruling sharply limiting the use of race in congressional redistricting. 
In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down Louisiana&#8217;s map, which included two majority-black districts, as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the Constitution generally forbids race-based line drawing absent a compelling justification.
Wednesday’s ruling clears the way for other states with majority-minority districts to change course. New maps in states including Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee could net Republicans as many as 12 seats in Congress, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/upshot/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymander.html">according to a New York Times analysis. </a>
Democrats decried the decision as an attack on democracy, despite pursuing partisan gerrymandering in California and, more recently, Virginia. 
“Now we&#8217;re now at a point where affirmative action is gone, diversity is gone, equity gone, inclusion gone, racial tolerance gone, the Voting Rights Act largely gone, but guess what, extremists, we’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hakeem Jeffries: “We&#8217;re now at a point where affirmative action is gone, diversity is gone, equity is gone, inclusion is gone&#8230;” <a href="https://t.co/4b9Bm7KNwy">pic.twitter.com/4b9Bm7KNwy</a>
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) <a href="https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/2049567900688605318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
Florida’s map is likely to face legal challenges. A provision in the state constitution effectively bars partisan gerrymandering, according to The New York Times. DeSantis has argued that recent court rulings from both the state and U.S. Supreme Court have laid the groundwork to uphold the maps.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The SCOTUS ruling also invalidates the below provisions of the FL Constitution requiring the use of race in redistricting:
”…districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in… <a href="https://t.co/IqrLoWdO0L">https://t.co/IqrLoWdO0L</a>
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2049510607108358651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling did not address political gerrymandering. 
“So at least from a federal constitutional perspective, the federal constitution isn&#8217;t going to have anything to say about political gerrymanders,” Smith said in an interview with The Daily Wire. 
“That&#8217;s going to be left to the states and really depend on what each state&#8217;s laws in each state&#8217;s constitution says about how their state legislatures draw their legislative maps,” he added.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, holds a press conference to speak

Florida Passes New Maps That Could Threaten Multiple Democratic Seats

Florida

Ron DeSantis

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday sharply limited the ability of states to consider race when drawing congressional maps, a decision that could reshape the balance of power in Washington and intensify redistricting battles ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, which included two majority-black districts, as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
In the court&#8217;s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdf">36-page opinion</a>, Alito emphasized that “the Constitution almost never permits the Federal Government or a State to discriminate on the basis of race,” framing the central <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/04/in-major-voting-rights-act-case-supreme-court-strikes-down-redistricting-map-challenged-as-racia/">question </a>as whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act justifies such actions.
For the court&#8217;s conservative wing, the answer was no.
&#8220;Because the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district, no compelling interest justified the State’s use of race in creating SB8, and that map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,&#8221; the court&#8217;s opinion held.
The ruling stopped short of overturning Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, but it significantly restricts how states can use race in redistricting, a shift that could weaken a key mechanism for creating majority-minority districts.
&#8220;Today&#8217;s 6-3 Supreme Court decision in the Callais case is BIG WIN for Equal Protection under the Law, as it returns the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination,&#8221; President Trump celebrated in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116490075773072322">Truth Social post.</a> &#8220;Thank you to the brilliant Justice Samuel Alito for authoring this important and appropriate Opinion.&#8221;
In a bitter dissent, liberal Justice Elena Kagan warned of sweeping consequences that &#8220;are likely to be far-reaching and grave.&#8221;
&#8220;Today’s decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter,&#8221; Kagan wrote. &#8220;In the States where that law continues to matter—the States still marked by residential segregation and racially polarized voting—minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process.&#8221;
Louisiana will be required to redraw its maps, and other Republican-led states will likely revisit their own districts amid an escalating nationwide redistricting battle.
Ryan Girdusky, a conservative political consultant and host of the podcast &#8220;It&#8217;s A Numbers Game,&#8221; said he expects the White House to pressure Republican-led states to act ahead of the November elections.
&#8220;I think the White House was genuinely caught off guard with how ambitious blue states would be, like California and Virginia, to redistrict their states in retaliation to Missouri and Texas,&#8221; Girdusky told The Daily Wire. &#8220;And because they are on the losing side of this calculation, as of right now, of this redistricting calculation, and because Indiana failed to redistrict, there&#8217;s going to be immense pressure on all southern states to redistrict black, majority, mostly rural districts, into Republican districts.&#8221; 
New maps in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee could net Republicans as many as 12 seats in Congress, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/upshot/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymander.html">according to a New York Times analysis. </a>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1086665 size-full aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/current_plausible_720.jpg" alt="" width="719" height="388" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/current_plausible_720.jpg 719w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/current_plausible_720-300x162.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px" /></div>
Blue states, including California and Virginia, have passed referendums expected to add Democratic seats. The Virginia Supreme Court is currently considering Republican-backed legal challenges.
&#8220;If Virginia cannot redistrict, if Virginia has to go back to its old district lines, and we have a situation where they go back to their old lines, and the South is able to redistrict, it absolutely could be game-changing as far as the midterms go,&#8221; Girdusky added.
Democrats sharply criticized the ruling. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called Wednesday&#8217;s ruling a &#8220;dark day for America,&#8221; arguing the court &#8220;effectively killed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a major step back in the fight for racial justice and fair representation.&#8221;
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) <a href="https://x.com/SenWarren/status/2049536788625027493?s=20">described the decision</a> as a &#8220;sledgehammer to one of the most important civil rights laws in American history.&#8221;
For Justice Clarence Thomas, who grew up in the segregated South, the court&#8217;s ruling didn&#8217;t go far enough.
&#8220;As I explained more than 30 years ago, I would go further and hold that §2 of the Voting Rights Act does not regulate districting at all,&#8221; Thomas wrote, calling the court&#8217;s prior approach a &#8220;disastrous misadventure.&#8221;

gettyimages-1993984039_720

Supreme Court Ruling Cracks Open Redistricting War And Republicans See Path To Power Shift

Midterms

The only thing thicker than Hakeem Jeffries’ hypocrisy is the smog of self-delusion that follows him into every room, choking the life out of the very truths he claims to uphold.
Last week, Jeffries, the House minority leader, was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkJG--0ScE0">practically doing a victory lap</a> in the end zone after Virginia Democrats pulled off the ultimate &#8220;Democracy™&#8221; maneuver: convincing 51.5% of voters to scrap an independent commission so the General Assembly could gerrymander a 10-1 split. To Jeffries, this wasn&#8217;t a power grab; it was a &#8220;big victory for America&#8221; and a &#8220;march toward a more perfect union.&#8221; Apparently, a &#8220;more perfect union&#8221; looks exactly like a map where half the voters get 90% of the representation.
Jeffries and the &#8220;Dollar-Store Obama&#8221; brigade framed this as a noble &#8220;firewall&#8221; against the orange man in the White House. Even Barack Obama emerged from his latest Netflix production to explain that gerrymandering is actually fine, as long as Democrats do it to &#8220;level the playing field.&#8221; It’s a bold strategy: saving democracy by destroying it first.
But fast forward to Monday, April 27, and Jeffries has suddenly rediscovered the sanctity of &#8220;Fair Districts.&#8221; The moment Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggested that the Sunshine State—which has seen a decade of growth in just three years—might need its own mid-decade tune-up, Jeffries’s halo reappeared.
Jeffries took to X to huff and puff about &#8220;blatant partisan gerrymandering&#8221; and &#8220;nakedly targeting communities of color.&#8221; He actually wrote, &#8220;See you in Court,&#8221; without a hint of a blush, despite the fact that a Virginia judge just tossed his own party’s referendum into the trash for being unconstitutional.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The DeSantis Dummymander blatantly violates Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment banning partisan gerrymandering.
It also violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by nakedly targeting communities of color. 
See you in Court. <a href="https://t.co/DeDqW84s7M">pic.twitter.com/DeDqW84s7M</a>
&mdash; Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) <a href="https://twitter.com/hakeemjeffries/status/2048812217915642288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The hypocrisy is so thick you could carve it. When Virginia Democrats attempt a 10-1 sweep, it’s a &#8220;march toward justice.&#8221; When DeSantis looks at a map, it’s a &#8220;Dummymander&#8221; and a violation of the 14th Amendment. Jeffries has <a href="https://x.com/Breaking911/status/2046984191716340211">told</a> Florida Republicans to &#8220;F around and find out,&#8221; which sounds a lot like a threat from a guy whose own &#8220;victory&#8221; is currently stuck in judicial purgatory.
DeSantis, ever the happy warrior, has <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2047020226785493096">responded</a> by offering to pay for Jeffries’ plane ticket to Florida. He even offered to take him fishing.
It’s a generous offer: Jeffries could use the time on the water to practice his latest trick—complaining about the &#8220;rigged system&#8221; in Florida while the ink is still wet on his own attempt to rig Virginia.
If Jeffries wants a war, he’s found a battlefield, but he might want to check his own backyard before he starts crying about the neighbors&#8217; fences.

Hakeem Jeffries

High Priest Of Hypocrisy: Hakeem Jeffries Demands Fairness In Florida Only After Rigging Virginia

Congress

Menu