Wygant v. Lee (formerly Moore v. Lee)
The suit alleges that, to achieve unfair partisan advantage, the Republican-controlled Tennessee legislature split more counties than necessary in the state house map to maintain equipopulous districts. It also contends that the state senate map fails to include consecutively numbered districts for those districts that lie within Davidson County.
On April 6, 2022, a three-judge panel temporarily enjoined Tennessee’s new state senate map, finding that the map violated the Tennessee Constitution. The panel declined to temporarily block the state house map. The panel ordered the legislature to adopt a new senate plan within fifteen days. Should the legislature fail to timely produce a new plan within the allotted time period, the panel will implement its own map just for the 2022 election cycle.
On April 13, 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the trial court, concluding that the lower court had invalidated the legislature’s new state senate map too close to the upcoming 2022 election cycle. The Court expressed no opinion on whether the trial court properly ruled that the senate map violated the Tennessee Constitution.
In November 2023, after conducting a trial, the three-judge panel struck down the senate map. The panel found the plaintiff challenging the house map had standing to challenge the split of Gibson County where he resided, but not the statewide map, and found the district-specific split to be constitutional.
On December 11, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part that decision. The court agreed with the lower court’s rulings on the house map, holding that the plaintiff failed to satisfy his burden to proove that the district-specific split he had standing to challenge was not rationally or legitimately related to achieving compliance with federal redistricting requirements. The high court reversed on the senate map, finding the plaintiff bringing the misnumbering claim lacked standing.
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