Mississippi governor cancels special legislative session to redraw state supreme court maps

On Wednesday morning, Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, said that he was canceling a special legislative session that was scheduled to redraw the state’s supreme court districts next week. However, Reeves, a Republican, noted that he does expect the state to redraw its four congressional districts at some point in the near future.Reeves, in an appearance on SuperTalk radio, a conservative talk radio network, also said that it would be difficult for the state to redraw the congressional districts in the Republicans’ favor in time for the upcoming midterm elections, slated for November. Doing so might also hurt Republicans in congressional races.Mississippi held its primary elections for congressional seats in March, before the supreme court’s Louisiana v Callais ruling, which narrowed a key protection of the Voting Rights Act and spurred a number of Republican-led states to reconfigure their maps. But an immediate redrawing of the Mississippi’s congressional districts with the goal of eliminating Democratic seats would more than likely mean invalidating its primary results and making firmly Republican areas more competitive by adding more Democratic voters instead.In a post on X following the news, Reeves wrote, “Just to clarify, I said I expect lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections! I also expect them to redraw legislative and Supreme Court lines between now and 2027 elections!”Reeves made it clear that he wanted the state to redraw its congressional districts, specifically targeting the Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson’s seat. He said that he was working with the Trump Administration on when and how the state should redraw congressional and legislative districts.“It is not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Reeves said of redrawing the state’s congressional district with a focus on Thompson’s district.Thompson, the state’s lone congressional Democrat, is also the longest-serving Black elected official in Mississippi and in Congress. He represents Mississippi’s second congressional district, about 275 miles long, which encompasses much of the Mississippi Delta, an area that is predominantly Black.