Judges rule against Tennessee Senate redistricting map over treatment of Nashville seats

By JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A panel of judges has ruled that a Republican-drawn map for Tennessee’s Senate seats violates the state Constitution because lawmakers incorrectly numbered the legislative districts in left-leaning Nashville. The numbering matters because the four-year Senate terms are staggered, putting some districts on the ballot in presidential election years, others in gubernatorial election cycles. Wednesday’s ruling centers on maps passed by the Republican-supermajority Legislature in 2022 during the once-a-decade redistricting process. Tennessee’s constitution dictates that districts must be numbered consecutively in counties that have more than one. The newly drawn redistricting plan does not do that in Davidson County, which encompasses Nashville.