Image Credit: Somervilletn.org
By Cassandra Stephenson [The Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Monday dismissed its lawsuit challenging Fayette County’s 2021 electoral map as discriminatory after county lawmakers passed a new map that complies with the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution, the group stated.
The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Tennessee in late February, claimed that the map adopted by the Fayette County Commission in 2021 was chosen “at least in part with the intent to racially discriminate against Black voters.”
The Tennessee Comptroller’s local redistricting guide requires county legislative bodies to consider minority representation when redistricting. Black voters make up more than 25% of Fayette County’s population, but the 19-member county commission is entirely white. The lawsuit stated that the commission chose an electoral map in 2021 that diluted the power of Black voters to elect candidates of their choice.
The commission approved a redistricting plan that had no majority-minority districts — rejecting other plans that included districts with majority Black voting age populations — against the advice of outside legal counsel and the commission’s own redistricting committee.
The U.S. Justice Department sued the Fayette County Board of Commissioners in January, also alleging that the board’s adoption of the 2021 map violated the Voting Rights Act.
Fayette County rejected the allegations in the federal lawsuit and stated its characterizations were “unfounded,” but the county opted to review and revise the map, according to court documents.
Fayette County commissioners voted to reconvene the Redistricting Committee in April, instructing the committee to create a plan with “no less than two majority minority districts.” The committee held a public hearing for the new plan in May before recommending it to the commission for passage.
Fayette County asked the court to stay the federal lawsuit proceedings in April in light of those pending redistricting plans, the “singular purpose” of which was “to reconsider and replace the map at issue in this litigation,” court filings state.
The commission unanimously approved the new electoral map with three majority-Black, single-member districts on June 24. The new map will be used in the 2026 election cycle.
The federal lawsuit’s status is unclear, as the last court-ordered status update was submitted on June 23, one day before the Fayette County Commission adopted the new map.
“Our lawsuit sent a clear message that Fayette County has to treat everyone fairly in the map drawing process,” John Cusick, LDF Assistant Counsel, stated in a news release. “The new map is a huge victory for Black voters that only happened because of our clients’ courage and unshakeable determination to fight for full citizenship and equal rights. We look forward to the 2026 election cycle where Black voters will finally have a chance to participate equally in the democratic process.”
The Legal Defense Fund’s lawsuit represented the claims of the NAACP Fayette-Somerville Branch and five Black Fayette County voters: Christine Woods, Thomas Gilmore, Veils Fitzpatrick, Willie Luellen and Marandy Wilkerson.
“This passage of the new map is not just a victory for Black voters, but also a victory for Fayette County,” Woods, one of the plaintiffs, stated in the release. “I’m excited about the new map and look forward to the upcoming elections that will take place under a fair map. This is a great opportunity for Black voters to get out and make our voices heard so that we have equal representation on the County Commission.”
