MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Early voting is underway across Tennessee as a newly redrawn congressional map changes how Memphis is represented at the federal level.
Memphis was once entirely contained in one congressional district, District 9. US Rep. Steve Cohen attracted funding, resources, and federal representation specific to Memphis.
In May 2026, Tennessee led the country in mid-decade redistricting. The new map split Memphis into three separate districts, breaking up the state’s only majority Democratic district. This also diluted the black vote in Memphis.
“And so at the time it was unprecedented because it’s a mid-term, mid-cycle redistricting that we’ve never seen before, especially at the behest of a sitting president for more partisan votes in Congress. And it’s even more unprecedented now that Tennessee was the first state to say, hey, let’s do it as well with this new map,” Shannon said.
Brooke Shannon, assistant professor of political science and public policy at the University of Memphis, said the identity Memphis had in a single district mattered.
Brooke Shannon, assistant professor of political science and public policy at the University of Memphis(Action News 5)
“It can’t be overstated the type of like identity of like, ‘I am a part of this district. And that’s why you ought to vote for me.’ That’s huge. It’s everything,” Shannon said.
Shannon said Memphians were deliberately written out of the new map.
“The biggest downside, I guess, would be that the city of Memphis is not effectively represented because these districts were drawn to remove voting power from this part of the state,” Shannon said.
Tennessee’s District 9 now stretches across the state, mixing rural, urban, and suburban counties. Districts 5 and 8 were redrawn the same way.
Shannon said the new boundaries will be a challenge for lawmakers to represent.
“Stretching that district out and sort of throwing everybody in and saying it’s a trial by fire almost means that the district has no real identity. So it’s really difficult to be crafting a message of representation for people in the district,” Shannon said. “That’s why you see kind of vague promises of like, I’m going to stand up for people of Tennessee, where that may mean very different things in Memphis than it does in like Pulaski in Middle Tennessee, which is also part of District 9 now.”
Early voting continues for two weeks in Tennessee. It ends on October 29. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Residents can check the secretary of state’s website to find out which congressional district they are in following redistricting.
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