U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) and State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) were among the plaintiffs alongside the Tennessee Democratic Party that filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block the state’s new congressional map and election law changes from taking effect during the 2026 election cycle.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the lawsuit argues that the legislation signed by Governor Bill Lee on Thursday would create “voter confusion,” disrupt ongoing congressional campaigns, and overwhelm local election officials ahead of the August primary elections.
The 23-page complaint challenges a package of bills passed during this week’s three-day special legislative session that redraws most of Tennessee’s congressional districts while also altering candidate qualifying deadlines and election procedures already underway for the 2026 cycle.
Plaintiffs argue the state changed the rules “in the middle of the game” by moving the candidate qualifying deadline from March 10 to May 15 and creating a new special qualifying period for candidates after campaigns had already been operating for months under the previous congressional map.
The lawsuit alleges that the changes could violate the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), as amended by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, which requires absentee ballots for military personnel and overseas voters to be mailed at least 45 days before an election.
Plaintiffs argue that by moving candidate qualifying deadlines into mid-May while also redrawing congressional districts, the state has compressed the election administration timeline in a way that county election officials may not have enough time to finalize ballots, process candidate changes, test voting equipment, and meet the federally mandated ballot-mailing deadline, potentially disenfranchising overseas and military voters.
The complaint seeks temporary and permanent injunctions from the court, preventing the state from implementing the new map and election rules until after the 2026 election cycle concludes.
Commenting on Tennessee’s new congressional map, Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Rachel Campbell called the effort “immoral,” adding, “It is an insult to the freedom fighters and civil rights movement leaders who put their lives on the line to rectify the original sin of America – slavery.”
Campbell said, “Let me be clear. Tennessee Democrats are taking this fight to [Republicans] everywhere: at the polls, in the courts, and in the streets. They can redraw the maps, but they will never redraw the power of the people.”
Tennessee’s redistricting effort is also being challenged in the Chancery Court of Tennessee in Davidson County, where the Tennessee State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has sued the state on behalf of a Memphis litigant over the new congressional map.
Unlike the federal lawsuit filed by Cohen, Pearson, and the Tennessee Democratic Party, the NAACP’s lawsuit argues in state court that the redistricting itself is illegal under Tennessee law and the Tennessee Constitution.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X.
Photo “Justin Pearson” by Justin Pearson. Photo “Steve Cohen” by Steve Cohen. Background Photo “Crowd” by Steve Cohen.
Now there is a pair for you!
Very exciting! Liberals want everything their way, how about the 40% of the population in Nashville is more Republican leaning but never has representation, especially at the mayor’s office. Should we? Sue Nashville.
Democrats are filing a federal lawsuit to keep Memphis a racially dominant district. Democrat racism at its finest.