Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has canceled a special session intended to redraw the state’s Supreme Court lines.

The Republican governor said he expects state lawmakers to redraw congressional districts sometime between now and the 2027 elections.

“On Monday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the opinion finding that Mississippi’s current Supreme Court map violated the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn. As a result, the injunction preventing Mississippi from using the current Supreme Court map was dissolved. This means Mississippi’s current map can still be used in all future elections,” Reeves said.

“While I always believed that the District Court’s opinion was erroneous and eventually would be overturned on appeal, to preserve the Mississippi Legislature’s right under both state and federal law to have the first opportunity to redraw the Supreme Court map, I set a special session of the Mississippi Legislature that would have begun next Wednesday. However, because the District Court’s injunction has been dissolved and the current Supreme Court map again is in full force and effect, there is no need for the Legislature to draw a new map,” Reeves continued.

“I am recalling and dissolving my April 23, 2026, Proclamation which called for a special session to redraw Mississippi’s Supreme Court map next Wednesday,” he added.

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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.

Mississippi’s congressional delegation consists of 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Future redistricting efforts would focus on the state’s lone Democratic seat, held by Rep. Bennie Thompson.

Magnolia Tribune noted:

Many in Republican circles have voiced their desire for the governor to add congressional redistricting to a special session call ahead of the November midterms. However, given that Mississippi has already held its primary elections, unlike in other states, such a move would be complicated.

Governor Reeves downplayed any “pressure” or “encouragement” from the White House to attempt congressional redistricting at this point in the cycle. He said no one is working closer with the White House on what a congressional redistricting plan would look like than him.

“Understand something, that maybe while it may be in the best interest of some individual politicians in Mississippi to talk about congressional redistricting, what happens in Mississippi doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Reeves said. “I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of Mississippi and I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of America and I’m going work very closely with the Trump administration to accomplish both of those goals.”

 

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