WASHINGTON – Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee is ending his bid for reelection. He’s just the latest lawmaker to have his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country. Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim Republican majority in the November midterm elections. Cohen has represented his Memphis-based district for nearly two decades. He lamented that Tennessee would likely shift to an entirely Republican delegation after the next election.
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Supreme Court has refused to declare that Democratic state lawmakers who briefly left the state last year in a quorum break to stop a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump vacated their offices. The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans on Friday in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.
– The Associated Press
