Mississippi politicians are threatening to redraw the congressional district of Bennie Thompson, the state's lone Democrat in Congress, following a Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Thompson, who is also the state's only Black representative, said the ruling was 'red meat to the Republican legislators of the south'.
The Supreme Court's reinterpretation of Section 2 in the case Louisiana v Callais has removed key federal protections that prevented states from suppressing minority voters, Thompson warned. He said lawmakers could now 'create an opportunity for people to not be represented or vote for the candidate of their choice', allowing 'mischief' to return.
On Wednesday, Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, called for redrawing Thompson's district to hurt his electoral chances. State Auditor Shad White, another likely GOP candidate for governor, has also posted extensively about Thompson, describing his district as 'gerrymandered'. Thompson noted that the current district was drawn by majority Republican legislators and spans nearly 300 miles, requiring him to fly to other states to reach parts of it.
Thompson highlighted the historical context of voter suppression in Mississippi, where Black voters faced poll taxes, literacy tests, and violent intimidation after Reconstruction. The VRA led to a surge in Black elected officials; today, Mississippi is about 38% Black, the highest proportion in the US, and much of that population is in Thompson's district.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, governors and lawmakers in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, and other southern states have called special sessions to redraw predominantly Black districts. Republicans in Tennessee have already eliminated the state's only Black congressional district, while Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new map. Thompson warned that the speed of these actions suggests 'the motive is less than genuine with respect to representing all people'.
