Mississippi won’t be redrawing its maps this year. Is it betrayal, like what we saw with Republicans in Indiana and South Carolina? Not really. Gov. Tate Reeves called off a special session today, likely sparking strong feelings among Republicans who realize how crucial redistricting has become after the Louisiana vs. Callais decision. Sure, the state has a legal opportunity to redraw its maps, but Reeves said the timeframe is too short, and there are still legal issues to be resolved in this matter (via Mississippi Today):
Just to clarify, I said I expect lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections!
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) May 13, 2026
I also expect them to redraw legislative and Supreme Court lines between now and 2027 elections! https://t.co/eTJK4YXC2h
Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday morning said he will cancel a special legislative session set for next week to redraw Mississippi’s state Supreme Court districts, but he indicated the state will redraw its four congressional districts, at some point.
Reeves, on SuperTalk radio, indicated that it would be difficult for the state to redraw the congressional districts in time for the upcoming midterm election and that it could hurt Republicans overall in congressional races if Mississippi did so.
Reeves, a Republican, said his reason for calling off next week’s the special session is the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning an order from U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock that found the Mississippi Supreme Court districts violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power and ordered the state to redraw them.
But even though the appellate court tossed out Aycock’s initial order, it doesn’t mean that the litigation ended entirely.
The plaintiffs in the case and the state, which are the defendants, filed a joint request at the 5th Circuit asking the court to overturn the lower court’s order and send it back down for more legal work.
The reason the parties asked to file additional arguments with Aycock is to debate, again, whether the districts violate the Voting Rights Act, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the recent Louisiana v. Callais case.
So Aycock could still rule at a later date that the districts violate federal law and order the state to redraw them.
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So, there’s a reason. It’s ridiculous we’re back to these issues with district judges again, but it’s not the weak sauce antics we saw from the South Carolina state Senate this week. It's still frustrating, but I can at least understand why Tate halted the push.
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