Just a handful of state lawmakers worked to redraw Tennessee’s congressional districts, without any input from U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, he said.
On Thursday, Tennessee became the first state to pass new congressional maps that split the majority Black and only Democrat-held district in three, following a Supreme Court ruling that carves out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and lifts requirements to consider race when drawing districts.
Fleischmann told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he was not involved in the decision for the state to redistrict, did not help draw or decide on the new district lines, but that he is supportive and pleased with the final map.
He said only a few lawmakers were involved in drawing the new maps to eliminate the Memphis seat.
“People who had the pen in this were Cameron Sexton (speaker of the House) and Randy McNally (lieutenant governor), with the help of William Lambert, the majority leader from the state House, and Jack Johnson (Senate majority leader), who’s probably going to be the next state lieutenant governor. They all worked on that,” Fleischmann said by phone. “Very few people actually had a pen, but they all had a vote.”