A three-judge federal panel denied the ACLU’s request for a preliminary injunction in Sherman v. Hargett, allowing Tennessee’s redrawn map, which splits majority-Black Memphis into three districts, to be used in the August 6 primary. The panel, composed of two Trump-appointed judges and one Obama appointee, concluded the evidence pointed to partisan politics rather than race as the driving force, writing that plaintiffs “haven’t presented meaningful evidence that race, not politics, motivated Tennessee’s May 2026 map.” The per curiam opinion also cited the Purcell principle, stating “the public is better served by a map created by its elected representatives, not forced upon them by unelected judges.” The injunction was denied, but the underlying lawsuit remains pending; early voting had already begun July 17. With the state court NAACP case dismissed and the Democratic Party’s suit voluntarily withdrawn, no challenge has succeeded; the map is set for 2026.
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