Mississippi Gov. Reeves Cancels Court Redistricting Session

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he is canceling a special legislative session scheduled for next week to redraw the state's Supreme Court districts, citing a recent federal appeals court ruling that eliminated the immediate need for action. Reeves, a Republican, indicated in a radio interview that lawmakers should still redraw congressional, legislative, and Supreme Court district lines sometime between now and the 2027 elections.

The decision follows a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which vacated an order from U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock. In 2025, Aycock had found that Mississippi's three Supreme Court districts, in place since 1987 and each majority-white despite Black residents comprising about 38 percent of the state's population, violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power. The appeals court action came after plaintiffs and state officials jointly requested it, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais. That ruling rejected a Louisiana congressional map for relying too heavily on race in creating a majority-Black district, prompting reassessments in...