Tennessee’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday in two cases with implications for state lawmakers’ ability to wield influence over local governments that run contrary to their interests.
Justices heard arguments on whether state legislators have the constitutional authority to require the Metro Nashville Council to reduce its size from 40 to 20, and whether the state can take majority appointment control over the Metro Nashville Airport Authority.
The airport case also serves as a litmus test of other state legislation targeting the city’s boards controlling Nashville’s sports stadiums, convention center and fairgrounds.
Nearly three years ago, the Republican-controlled Tennessee legislature passed a slate of laws targeting Metro Nashville. The legislation followed an escalation in political power moves by both legislative bodies. Republican state lawmakers redistricted Nashville’s U.S. congressional seats in 2022 and successfully eliminated a seat that represented the city, carving the reliably Democratic Congressional District 5 up into three portions. The Metro Council and then-Nashville Mayor John Cooper blocked the city’s bid to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Nashville’s mayor and the council are nonpartisan offices, but Cooper’s brother, Jim Cooper, was the Democratic representative for Nashville before the redistricting.