Tate Reeves announced plans on April 24, 2026, to call the Mississippi Legislature into a special session to redraw the state’s three judicial districts used to elect justices to the Supreme Court of Mississippi. According to Reeves, the session will begin 21 calendar days after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case expected to affect how race can be considered in drawing electoral maps.
Reeves said the Legislature had previously discussed redrawing the districts during the regular session but had not been given a fair opportunity to complete the process because of uncertainty surrounding the pending Supreme Court case. He argued that federal law gives state legislatures the first chance to draw district maps and said Mississippi should wait until the legal rules are clearer before acting. In his statement, Reeves also expressed hope that the Court would reaffirm equal treatment under the law and limit race-based classifications in districting.
The need for redistricting stems from a federal court order involving Mississippi’s current judicial maps, which have remained largely unchanged since 1987. Under the existing system, the state is divided into Northern, Central, and Southern judicial districts, each electing three justices to the nine-member state supreme court.
In 2025, Sharion Aycock ruled that the current districts, especially the Central District covering heavily Black areas of the Delta and the Jackson metropolitan region, violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the ability of Black voters to elect candidates of their choice. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Mississippi, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and private attorneys.
Mississippi appealed the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which paused proceedings until the Supreme Court rules in Callais. That case examines whether creating a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana to comply with the Voting Rights Act amounts to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering under the 14th and 15th Amendments.
The article concludes by citing comments from Sean Spicer, who claimed the Court may soon issue a ruling that could significantly reshape congressional maps across the South and potentially benefit Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
