Defending Voting Rights in Tennessee

Wherever I see oppression and injustice, I have to help stop it.”Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, candidate for Congress

As we enter the two-week primary voting period in Washington State, the attempt by the Trump administration to interfere and potentially block voting rights nationwide is becoming more real. In response, justice minded organizations and activists around the country are taking up the fight to defend voting rights, especially for people of color.

In Trump’s rant to the nation on July 16, he continued to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Meanwhile, he and his staff have been preparing and putting into action, through executive orders, various tactics to block access to voting in the 2026 midterm elections. Most have been rejected in federal court because of legal efforts taken by a coalition of 23 state attorneys general. AG Nick Brown of our state is a leader in this effort.

However, the attack on voting rights was given a significant boost when the US Supreme Court made their Louisiana v. Callais decision on April 29 (in a 6-3 vote, of course) to rule that the new map of Louisiana Congressional districts, which was drawn after the 2020 census and established two majority Black districts, was not supported by the Voting Rights Act. As a result, several state legislatures took quick action to change their Congressional districts to eliminate majority minority voter districts in time for the upcoming elections. Tennessee is one of those states.

Within days of the Supreme Court ruling, Governor Bill Lee called the Tennessee legislature back for a special session to redraw Congressional districts. Despite opposition from civil rights organizations and a handful of Democratic state legislators, the action resulted in the elimination of the one district in the state that had a majority of Black voters and had elected the only Democrat to Congress from that state. Their 9th Congressional District (CD), which included all of Memphis, a city with a long and significant history in the civil rights movement, was divided up and combined with nearby mostly white Republican rural districts. The new district includes 15 counties and stretches almost 200 miles from Memphis nearly to Nashville. The leading candidate in the race for the seat prior to redistricting was State Representative Justin Pearson. Pearson, only 31 years old and a member of a family of several generations of civil rights and environmental justice activists, was ahead in the polls and on track to win the seat.

In March I had signed up with Common Power, the Seattle based organization that “works to foster, support, and amplify a democracy that is just and inclusive,” to join a team of volunteers headed for Memphis to work on Justin Pearson’s campaign. We arrived at the end of May, more determined than ever to help Justin win the election despite the significant change in the 9th CD.

Our task was to canvass door-to-door in the nearest rural county to test the reaction of registered Democrats who had never had the opportunity in their lifetimes to vote for a Black candidate for Congress. Our team of 12 managed to reach 1,000 doors in just five days. We met many Black residents who knew about the change and their inclusion in the new 9th CD and were clearly excited about the opportunity to vote for and help elect Justin Pearson. We met many white Democrats who were also willing to commit to voting for Justin but were more reluctant to have their racist neighbors know of their choice. In the canvassing we did in neighborhoods in Memphis that were part of the original 9th CD, voters were angry about the change and determined to work to get Justin elected. I felt the energy of voters who were not about to let Trump and his supporters take away their right to true representation in Congress.

As we approach the lead-up to the midterm elections, we must take inspiration from voters in places like Memphis and the rural counties of Tennessee’s new 9th Congressional district to fight against the attacks yet to come on the right for all to vote in free and fair elections. Here in Washington State, Standing for Democracy has built the Voter Protection Alliance, consisting of 50 social justice, labor, immigrant rights and other organizations. The Alliance is developing strategies to ensure that voting by mail and at ballot drop boxes are protected from Trump’s attempts to obstruct our right to vote. To get involved, please send an email to

standingfordemocracy053@gmail.com.