Congressman Cohen Protests Call for Redistricting

MEMPHIS - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), who has represented a majority-Black district in Congress since 2007, responded to state Republican lawmakers' call for a special legislative session to consider redistricting, and made the following statement:

"This transparent effort to create a seat for a member of Congress who will rubber stamp Trump's increasingly bizarre and dangerous agenda will also dilute the Black vote in Tennessee to the point of irrelevance.

"I have been consulting with voting rights lawyers and other experts to fight this move with every option available, political and legal. The filing deadline for candidates for the 120^th Congress has passed. Were the General Assembly to change the district maps, candidates already seeking office in one district could find themselves in the absurd situation of running in another - a wholesale injustice to voters and a mockery of democracy.

"Republican state lawmakers clearly have the votes to make this Machiavellian move. I hope fairness is part of their consideration and that they abandon it."

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