Tennessee Republicans voted Thursday to pass new congressional maps expected to eliminate the state's only Democratic U.S. House seat. Republican Governor Bill Lee signed the measure into law shortly afterward. The move followed a Supreme Court decision striking down certain majority-black districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the state capitol in Nashville during the special session. They held signs reading “Jim Crow 2.0” and “Modern Apartheid” while lawmakers debated the maps that split Memphis into three Republican-leaning districts. State troopers cleared parts of the gallery after demonstrators refused to leave.
