As a special session intended to take up Mississippi’s Supreme Court map moves closer, a divide is emerging among Republicans over whether to also redraw the state’s congressional lines. Some in the GOP are pushing to further solidify their advantage in an already-red state, while others warn that revisiting the map could carry long-term political risks.
Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week that creating race-based congressional districts was unconstitutional, Republican State Auditor Shad White was on social media calling for Mississippi lawmakers to find a way to oust longtime Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson from office.
“Mississippi has long had a congressional district – the second congressional district – which was gerrymandered around race. And there is no reason under this new ruling for that district to exist with the lines that it currently has,” White said in a video he posted on social media. “This is a huge, huge change in electoral politics and it could mean the end of the district that was drawn specifically to protect Bennie Thompson.”
White has kept the topic alive on social media, since writing “Redraw the lines.” and consistently touting himself as “the only statewide official or member of Congress to explicitly call for redrawing the districts,” although he predicts that will change soon as President Donald Trump is believed to be pressuring Mississippi to redraw its congressional districts.
Plenty of people who support White, who is mulling a 2027 run for governor, agree with his take on Thompson’s district. That’s apparent in the replies and comments on his social media posts.
Republicans in the state legislature, on the other hand, are taking a measured approach to the situation.
As of now, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves – who has yet to publicly weigh in on the prospect of redrawing congressional districts – only has lawmakers returning to Jackson to discuss the state’s Supreme Court map. The map was deemed in December by a federal judge to be diluting Black voting power, but lawmakers punted on redrawing it until hearing the nation’s high court’s decision. With the decision, lawmakers can keep the map the same or try to alter it in way that gives conservative-leaning candidates an advantage, despite the notion that Supreme Court justices are to be independent of party affiliation.
Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, reiterated that Reeves controls the special session’s agenda, and he “would be surprised if we expanded to the congressional map.” Not only would redrawing the congressional map now cause confusion as Mississippi has already held its 2026 congressional primaries – meaning results would need to be invalidated – but Creekmore believes tinkering with it could run the risk of Republicans sacrificing at least one district in the future.
Mississippi currently has three congressional seats considered to be Republican strongholds and then the one Democratic seat that has been held by Thompson for more than three decades. Picking Thompson’s seat apart would mean moving built-in Democratic votes to currently red areas and opening the door for “purple” districts to be born.
“We’ve got to use common sense in this. 3-1 may be the best we can get,” Creekmore said on Mornings with Richard Cross.
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Sid Salter, a longtime political analyst who also works at Mississippi State University, agrees with Creekmore, saying a redraw of the state’s congressional map could be beneficial to Republicans short-term but long-term, it may backfire.
“Without question, that is not only a possible outcome; it is a probable outcome,” Salter said. “This crossroads, as you call it, is just that. There are many people who can’t see past the impact this has on Congressman Thompson’s district.”
Salter added that with Mississippi’s Black population, which makes up a majority of the state’s Democratic base, the numbers show that picking apart Thompson’s district would water down the three red districts that currently exist.
“It’s not as simple as people make it out to be, and there is a reason to be thoughtful in what we do with this and not focus it all on one individual politician,” he said. “I think when you look at the future of our state, we have the largest African American population among the 50 states on a percentage basis. All of that matters.”
As for Thompson, he is well aware of conversations going on between Republicans in his home state. During an appearance on CNN’s “First of All with Victor Blackwell,” Thompson said it’s ironic the party that drew his current map is debating redrawing it.
“All of these districts were drawn by Republicans and approved by Republican legislatures,” Thompson said, referring to similar efforts in red states like Tennessee and Alabama. “This district that I have, Republicans have drawn my district. So, now they say the district that they drew is a gerrymandered district. But now, the court gives them the right that takes that away and that’s why we have to fight.”
If Reeves does order lawmakers to consider redrawing the state’s congressional map, lawmakers will still have the final say. The legislature, which has a Republican majority in both chambers, is scheduled to reconvene on May 20 at 1 p.m.
