Mississippi Governor Plans Special Session After Key Supreme Court Redistricting Ruling

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said he will call a special session within 21 days after the U.S. Supreme Court's Callais ruling to redraw the state's district maps.

Reeves said the special session will follow the court ruling and give lawmakers authority to redraw congressional and other state district lines. He set a 21-day window for convening after the decision, a timeline that could quickly alter Mississippi's political map and trigger further legal challenges.

The episode traces back to April 2022 when civil rights groups sued, saying Mississippi's long-unchanged district lines diluted Black voting strength and left no majority-Black district. Black residents make up about 38% of Mississippi's population, a central fact in arguments that the maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In August 2025 U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the maps broke the law and ordered a redraw, but the Fifth Circuit paused that order while the Supreme Court decided Callais. The Callais case grew out of Louisiana's post-2020 redistricting, and it followed the Supreme Court's 2023 Allen v. Milligan decision upholding the need for majority-minority districts under the Voting Rights Act.

Supporters praised Reeves' move as swift compliance with court direction and defended the state's right to redraw maps. Critics said the plan continued a long pattern of disenfranchising Black voters and noted the announcement implicitly acknowledged Black representation depends on federal enforcement. Analysts warned the session could produce a sharply Republican map, with some projections showing a 4-0 Republican congressional delegation, and any new plan is likely to prompt more litigation.