Tennessee Speaker Cameron Sexton ousts all Democrats from committees after redistricting protest
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton has stripped all 24 Democrats in his chamber of their committee assignments because they protested the GOP’s new gerrymandered map on the House floor
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) has followed through on his promise to punish Democratic lawmakers who protested the state’s new gerrymandered map on the House floor last week.
According to a report from WSMV in Nashville, Tenn., the outlet obtained a letter Sexton sent to Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis) on Tuesday night informing her that all 24 of the Tennessee House Democrats have been stripped of their committee assignments. The letter says that the actions taken by Democrats during last week’s redistricting special session created disorder in the chamber.
“Members of the Democratic Caucus will receive individual letters removing them from all standing committees and subcommittees of the House, except where membership is required,” the letter says. “[The actions were] aimed at disrupting the democratic and legislative processes and creating disorder on the House Floor.”
Camper published a statement on Tuesday calling the Republican gerrymandering effort “one of the most troubling abuses of power this legislature has seen in recent memory.”
“They [Republicans] have proven time and time again that they have little regard for precedent, fairness or event he spirit of the law itself,” Camper wrote. “They have abused the supermajority over and over again, changing the rules whenever it benefits them and punishing anyone who dares to challenge them.”
Democrats protested the new map
Two days after the U.S. Supreme Court released the Louisiana v. Callais decision on April 29 — which removed racial gerrymandering protections granted from the Voting Rights Act — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) quickly called a special session to redraw his state’s congressional map. Within six days, the Republican-dominated state legislature changed several state laws, and introduced and passed a new congressional map, which Lee signed into law.
The new map carves up the state’s 9th Congressional District, Tennessee’s last Democrat-held and Black-majority seat in Memphis and gives Republicans the advantage to take all nine of the state’s U.S. House seats. The GOP currently stands to gain 15 U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections thanks to nationwide redistricting efforts. Democrats could potentially flip six seats after new maps in California and Utah were implemented.
While House Republicans voted to approve the map last Thursday afternoon, Democrats stood in solidarity at the front of the chamber as protesters in the gallery erupted in defiance.
Sexton’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment or provide more details on his decision.
State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) included the letter he received in a Tuesday Instagram post, which provided little detail on the parameters of the protesting penalty.
Sexton previously expelled Jones and Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) from the chamber in 2023 after they protested the GOP’s lack of gun reform legislation on the House floor. Both were quickly reinstated after winning special elections.
Gerrymandering fallout
A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R), who presides over the Tennessee state Senate, said McNally is considering similar actions against the six Democrats in his chamber who also locked arms at the end of their session. The GOP moves escalate the conflict over the new map, which Democrats label as a racially motivated attempt to disenfranchise Black voters.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), who represents the 9th District, testified against the map and claimed Republicans knew it would disenfranchise Black voters and passed it anyway.
Republicans claim that their map is in accordance with the Supreme Court’s new parameters and it was drawn purely on a partisan basis.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit attempting to block the new map, arguing that it represents intentional racial discrimination against Black voters.
“Black voters in Memphis did exactly what the Constitution empowers every American to do, which is to choose their representative,” said ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Miriam R. Nemeth. “The legislature’s response was an effort to ensure that those votes never carry the same weight again. The law has a name for this, and it’s not redistricting, it is textbook First Amendment retaliation. And it is, at its heart, racism.”
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