The Republican governors of Alabama and Tennessee on Friday called for their state legislators to convene for special sessions to consider new congressional maps after a major Supreme Court decision on race and redistricting this week.
In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey said the GOP-controlled Legislature should be prepared to set special primary elections if the Supreme Court allows them to use a congressional map that had been blocked in court.
Alabama's primaries on May 19 are currently scheduled to take place using a court-ordered map that includes two districts with heavy Black populations. But the Supreme Court’s decision signaled that Alabama might now be allowed to use a previous map with just one of those districts in place, which would likely result in an additional seat for Republicans.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed an emergency motion seeking a quick answer from the nation’s top court on that map.
“By calling the Legislature into a special session, I am ensuring Alabama is prepared should the courts act quickly enough to allow Alabama’s previously drawn congressional and state Senate maps to be used during this election cycle," Ivey said in a statement Friday afternoon.
In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee also called for a special legislative session in his state to “review” the state’s congressional map, which has a single Democratic-controlled district based in Memphis.
Lee's office said in a statement that "any change to Tennessee’s congressional map must be enacted as soon as possible" to comply with the state's timeline ahead of the Aug. 6 primary.
Meanwhile, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also suggested Friday that his state might be next.
“The U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s current congressional map in 2024. In light of the Court’s most recent decision on the Voting Rights Act, it would be appropriate for the General Assembly to ensure that South Carolina’s congressional map still complies with all requirements of federal law and the U.S. Constitution,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
The South Carolina Legislature is currently in session and the state’s primary is scheduled for June 9. The state has one Democratic member of Congress, Rep. Jim Clyburn, who represents the majority-minority 6th District.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's congressional map was unconstitutional in an opinion effectively gutting the racial gerrymandering protections in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The decision is expected to trigger an avalanche of new maps next year, extending the current mid-decade redistricting battle.
As a result, Louisiana officials delayed the state's House primaries that were scheduled for May 16 to allow for a redraw of the current map. All other races, including the Senate primary, will move forward as scheduled.
Voting rights groups sued on Friday to have Louisiana's House primaries continue on schedule given that absentee voting is already underway.
Not all GOP-led southern states are moving to redraw their congressional boundaries for the current election cycle. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday that he doesn’t plan to delay the state's May 19 primary to make time for new maps.
“Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections,” Kemp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But he said the Supreme Court's decision “requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.”
Kemp praised the ruling, saying it “restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges.”
