05/08/2026
After hearing all the debate and looking at the facts, hereās where I landed on the redistricting. I voted yes.
Tennesseeās Special Session to consider redrawing the state's
congressional district map is getting a lot of national attention from
the media. Some would have us believe that the Volunteer state is
doing something unprecedented and unheard of. That is simply not the case.
While this political process is distasteful, it is in response to what
several Blue States have been doing for some time but it seems the
media and other critics choose to ignore it. They only call "foul"when Red states respond.
For example, In the last few cycles:
*New York has repeatedly drawn maps favoring Democrats, even after its
commission deadlocked.
*California, despite having a commission, ended up with maps that lean strongly Democratic
because of political geography and how communities were grouped.
*Recently Virginiaās maps shifted all 11 Congressional seats toward Democrats and eliminates 2 Republican seats.
*Illinois, Oregon, and New Mexico passed maps openly designed to help
Democratic candidates.
In light of these actions, I believe it is imperative that Red States
respond if we are serious about saving our Republic, because the
obvious goal of the Blue State's redistricting efforts is to gain
control of Congress for decades to come, instill their complete socialist agenda upon this country and impeach the President.
Tennessee and other Red states did not start this "political redistricting war." However, once the battle started, I realized we all must choose a side. I choose to stand for our Republic and do what
I can to maintain the balance of power in Congress as our forefathers envisioned.
The Supreme Court recently struck down Louisianaās map because race was the primary driver behind the way the districts were drawn.
Tennessee's previous map was in danger of being struck down because the 9th district in West Tennessee was clearly drawn with race as a consideration. This Supreme Court said "that is unconstitutional." The
new map removes that potential court challenge.
The core idea in the Supreme Court ruling is simple: states are
allowed to consider politics when drawing districts, but not race. If
political considerations alone made a map illegal, half the countryās
maps would have been thrown out. The court has been clear: politics is
allowed.
In summary, Tennessee followed the rules. The state relied on the same
traditional criteria the courts have always accepted:
The Supreme Courtās 2019 ruling in Rucho v. Common Cause made it
clear: Every state, red or blue, has room to draw maps that reflect political goals, as long as racial protections are not violated.
Tennesseeās new map
uses traditional districting principles.
It does not rely on race as the dominant factor. The Democrats are angry about that.
Political considerations are allowed under Supreme Court precedent.
The Voting Rights Act does not require Tennessee to draw a raceābased district.
Other statesāespecially blue statesāhave drawn politically favorable
maps without being struck down.
In plain terms: Tennessee played by the same rules as everyone else,
Tennesseeās map fits squarely in that category. As distasteful as it
may be, politics played a role, just as it does everywhere, but race
did not.
By contrast, this is the last Congressional map drawn by the Democrat Controlled state legislature in the 1990s. It was used until 2013, two years after the Republicans gained control of the State House & Senate. Notice; their map gerrymanders (yellow) from just east of Memphis to East Tennessee and the Kentucky line. This Democrat map was clearly drawn based on race as well as politics to favor Democrat candidates. Their protests ring hollow with me.
Now, instead of 1 congressman representing Memphis & Shelby County, the new map gives them 3. They will have 3 times the representation as before, but not based on race.
