Judges Reject Redistricting Map Misnumbered by Republicans

A Republican-drawn map for Tennessee's Senate seats violates the state Constitution because lawmakers incorrectly numbered the legislative districts in Democrat-leaning Nashville, affecting which years those seats are on the ballot, a panel of judges ruled Wednesday. The ruling centers on maps passed by the Republican-supermajority Legislature in 2022 during the once-a-decade redistricting process. Tennessee's constitution dictates that districts must be numbered consecutively in counties that have more than one district, the AP reports. The newly drawn redistricting plan does not do that in Davidson County, which encompasses Nashville. Instead, they're numbered 17, 19, 20 and 21.

The numbering matters because the four-year Senate terms are staggered, putting some districts on the ballot in presidential election years, others in gubernatorial election cycles. Currently, those four districts are represented by three Democrats and one Republican. There are 27 Republicans and six Democrats in the state Senate. According to Wednesday's ruling, the state's attorneys "conceded" that they would not defend the Senate map in court and instead focused their attention arguing that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue. Tennessee's state House map was also challenged in the lawsuit, though the state did defend those boundaries. Ultimately, the three judges panel upheld the House map and ordered the Tennessee Senate to come up with a new district layout by Jan. 31.

Senate Speaker Randy McNally, a Republican who previously defended the Senate map as legally sound, said legislative leaders were reviewing Wednesday's decision but believed that an "appeal is a very viable option." A spokesperson for Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti also said the office was reviewing the ruling, per the AP. "Today's court ruling against the gerrymandered state Senate map is a clear win for the Tennessee Constitution," said Democratic Sens. Raumesh Akbari and London Lamar in a statement. "Even when a political party has a supermajority in the legislature, its members must still follow the law."

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