Gov. Tate Reeves is planning to cancel Mississippi’s special session that was scheduled to begin May 20 after a federal appeals court vacated an order requiring the state to redraw its Supreme Court map, noting Wednesday morning that “there is no reason for the legislature to come in.”
Reeves’ decision to tell lawmakers to stay home, which he first made public during an interview on Mornings with Richard Cross, means the state’s Supreme Court map will remain the same for the time being. A federal judge ruled in December that the current version diluted Black voting power, but following last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais limiting the use of race in redistricting, the initial ruling was put on hold.
“Because of all of that, there is no longer any reason for the legislature to come in next Wednesday for judicial redistricting,” Reeves said, adding an official announcement will come from his office later in the day.
Lawmakers could still tinker with the Supreme Court map, if they choose to do so, when their next scheduled session begins in January 2027. The next Supreme Court elections are not until 2028.
As for what Reeves referred to as the “most sexy” issue currently being discussed in Mississippi – congressional redistricting – he believes, and even supports the idea of, a new map eventually being drawn to give Republicans an ever further advantage in an already GOP-powered state. While eight states have implemented new congressional maps since the SCOTUS decision, others such as Alabama and Louisiana have faced litigation over their proposed maps.
Some Republican voters but very few elected officials in Mississippi have been calling for an immediate redraw of the state’s congressional map, one that would in essence make it harder for Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson to be reelected. Other Republicans have warned a quick, careless redraw could be beneficial to their party short-term, but long-term, it may backfire if ingrained blue votes in Thompson’s district are moved to other areas that could eventually turn purple. Also, the state has already held its congressional primary elections this year, meaning an immediate redraw would likely force those results to be invalidated.
Reeves agreed, saying “it’s complicated” but Republican lawmakers must be strategic when trying to move Thompson out of office – something Reeves admitted he wants to see happen. The Republican governor and Mississippi’s lone Democratic member of Congress have long butted heads on policy points and their wildly opposite views of President Donald Trump.
“What I will tell you is the tenure of Congressman Bennie Thompson reigning terror on the Second Congressional District is over. It’s not a question of if, [but] it’s a question of when,” Reeves said, adding that he’s been meeting with the White House for months on the future of the state’s congressional map – well before the Callais decision.
“No one is working closer with the White House on what the congressional maps in Mississippi look like than I am. Again, we have been in constant communication with the political team at the White House,” Reeves said. “I literally met with the president in the Oval Office a couple of months ago when I was in Washington.”
Mississippi has four congressional districts, three of which are historically Republican and the other Democratic. Mock maps have been floating around social media from voters and political commentators trying to show lawmakers how a 4-0 situation in favor of Republicans is possible.
“I will tell you that I’ve seen these maps going around on the internet that show four, R+20 districts, those are not realistic,” Reeves said. “The reality is most things in government are never as simple as some people want them to be.”
Even with Reeves calling off the upcoming special session, he made clear his belief that congressional redistricting will be on the legislative docket in 2027 if he doesn’t call another special session before then. Reeves also said he would like to see the state’s Supreme Court and legislative maps redrawn, presumably to give conservative candidates more of an advantage even though Supreme Court justices are supposed to run without party affiliation. Republican House Speaker Jason White announced last week that he was creating a committee to solely focus on redistricting.
