Redistricting in Tennessee after the 2010 census

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.

Redistricting in Tennessee

General information

Partisan control: Republican

Process: Legislative

Deadline: None

Total seats

Congress: 9

State Senate: 33

State House: 99

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Tennessee following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

Tennessee's legislature drew boundaries, provided they adhere to a few rules concerning contiguous districts and the avoidance of gerrymandering. Legislators considered pushing the process back until 2012.

Historically, the state did not conduct any redistricting at all until a court case mandated it in 1962.

Leadership

On June 16, 2011, a Republican-led committee began redrawing the districts. One legislator involved was House Representative Gerald McCormick (R).

Governor Bill Haslam (R) said he would have no impact on the redistricting process in 2011-12.

Census results

The area around Nashville grew the most, with the actual city increasing 10% and the neighboring cities of Clarksville and Murfreesboro growing 29% and 58%, respectively.

Some areas shrank, such as Memphis. Overall, Tennessee grew 11.5%.

Congressional redistricting

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (R) discusses redistricting in July 2011.

Proposed Congressional redistricting map from January 2012.

Prior to 2010, the Congressional delegation was 5 Democrats and 4 Republicans. After the 2010 elections, Republicans held a 7-2 advantage.

January 2012: Map introduced

The Tennessee General Assembly introduced the new congressional map on January 6, 2012. The draft map included seven safe Republican seats and two safe Democratic districts.

January 2012: Map passed

The Tennessee House of Representatives passed the congressional map on January 12, 2012 by a vote of 68-25. The Tennessee State Senate followed on January 13, 2012 with a 23-10 vote in favor of the map.

January 2012: Signed by governor

On January 26, 2012, Governor Bill Haslam (R) signed the congressional redistricting map into law.

Legislative redistricting

January 2012: Proposed maps

Figure A: Proposed State House redistricting map from January 2012.

Figure B: Proposed State Senate redistricting map from January 2012.

In early January 2012, the Republican leadership in the state legislature released proposed maps for the state senate and state house (See figures A and B).

State Senate

The proposed senate map drawn by Republicans would likely eliminate one incumbent Republican and one Democrat -- current minority leader Jim Kyle.

• Republicans Kerry Roberts and Jim Summerville were combined in the 25th District. The 25th was not up for election in 2012.
• Jim Kyle was in district 28 with Brian Kelsey (R). Kelsey was not up for election in 2012, but Kyle's term was up and therefore he likely could not run for re-election if the map was implemented.

There were two districts with no incumbent.

January 2012: Map passed

The map was passed by the Tennessee State Senate on January 13, 2012. The final version had one significant change from the first draft -- it did not eliminate Jim Kyle's seat. The new map paired him with fellow Democratic incumbent Beverly Marrero.

February 2012: Map signed

The map was signed by Governor Bill Haslam (R) on February 9, 2012.

State House

The proposed map drawn by Republicans altered the districts of at least six incumbent Democrats while creating six new districts that were open without any current resident legislator. A total of eight incumbent Democrats were paired in the same district in the proposed map (figure A). The Democrats paired into single districts were:

• Sherry Jones and Mike Stewart
• Antonio Parkinson and Jeannie Richardson
• Barbara Cooper and G.A. Hardaway
• Tommie Brown and JoAnn Favors

Additionally, two incumbent Democrats had each been paired with a Republican incumbent in districts that favor the GOP.

• Bill Harmon (D) and Jim Cobb (R)
• Eddie Bass (R) and Vance Dennis (D)

The state house map was approved by committee hours after initial introduction on January 4, 2012.

There were 13 total majority-minority districts -- the same as the map implemented in 2002.

January 2012: Map passed

The Tennessee House of Representatives passed its redistricting map on a 67-25 vote. Democrats proposed an alternative map that was rejected by the Republican majority. Republicans tweaked the map to preserve the seats for three Democratic incumbents -- Sherry Jones, Eddie Bass and Harry Tindell. "We understand to the victor go the spoils. We did not have the votes, and we knew that, and we just tried to make the best of the situation," said House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D).

January 2012: Map signed

The map was signed by Governor Bill Haslam (R) on January 26, 2012.

Public input

Beth Harwell (R), Speaker of the House, said the legislative website would allow public comment on suggestions for maps sometime after Labor Day.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey said in August 2011 that the state would put an unprecedented amount of information on a state website, which would help create a more efficient process and engage the general public. The public had until November 1 to submit a map to the Office of Legal Services.

Legal issues

On March 16, 2012, Democrats filed a lawsuit against the Republican-drawn senate redistricting maps. The suit argued that the Tennessee State Senate map unnecessarily split too many counties. The implemented map split eight counties while a General Assembly Black Caucus map would have split five.

Timeline

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey said the legislators would likely vote on a map in February 2012.

Legislators were unlikely to reveal early versions of maps until January 2012.

History

Figure 1: This map shows the Tennessee Congressional Districts after the 2000 census.

Despite the fact that the Tennessee Constitution required the state to redistrict at least every 10 years, it allowed the redistricting of 1901 to stand for over 60 years. The state had a great deal population of shifts during that time period, leaving districts greatly unequal by the 1960s. The major change was from rural to urban areas, yet rural voters retained a majority of the power.

With population disparity growing, a number of groups, including the League of Women Voters, initiated the landmark Baker v. Carr case. Although it was initially defeated in state court, it eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in 1962, ruled that reapportionment was justiciable, allowing the courts to intervene.

Following this decision, the Tennessee General Assembly held a special session to adopt a new redistricting plan. The plan, however, remained greatly unrepresentative, and the courts ordered them to offer a new plan by mid-1963. The legislature failed to meet this deadline, and the courts had to step in.

This ultimately led to the 1965 constitutional convention, where a new provision allowing urban counties to be split into districts was adopted. This change from at-large elections allowed urban counties to be equal in population to rural ones. The legislature adopted a new redistricting plan in 1966, which was still unequal, but much closer than it had been for many years. The legislature attempted to redraw Congressional boundaries in 1965, but failed to provide an acceptable plan, leading the court to draw the districts.

2001 redistricting

Figure 2: This map shows the Tennessee House Districts after the 2000 census.

Figure 3: This map shows the Tennessee Senate Districts after the 2000 census.

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 population deviation
Office		Percentage
Congressional districts		0.00%
State house districts		9.99%
State senate districts		9.98%
Under federal law, districts could vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable was preferred. Ideal Districts were computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

Lawsuits related to the 2000 Census

There was 1 lawsuit related to the Tennessee 2000 census redistricting process.

• Crone v. Darnell, 2001 WL 1589601, 176 F. Supp.2d 814 (W.D. Tenn. 2001) : Plaintiff alleged that the 2000 census showed that the senate, house, and congressional districts were malapportioned and that qualified electors had a right under the U.S. Constitution and federal law to have new districts drawn 90 days before the primary filing deadline of April 4, 2002. It requested the court to enjoin further use of the current districts and adopt a new redistricting plan. The three-judge court found that there was no federal right to 90 days notice of new district boundaries and dismissed the complaint.

See also

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures

External links

• Comptroller Guide to Local Redistricting (dead link)
• District Maps at Tennessee General Assembly Website