Tennessee House Bill HB7006

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 5/4/26
• Refer: 5/6/26
• Failed: 5/6/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 16 and Chapter 742 of the Public Acts of 2026, relative to congressional districts.

Summary

HB7006 is a congressional redistricting bill for Tennessee. It amends Tennessee Code Annotated and a chapter of the Public Acts of 2026 to replace the state’s congressional district map with a new nine-district plan. The bill sets out, in extensive detail, the counties, voting districts, and census blocks that would make up each district, thereby redefining the geographic boundaries for congressional elections across the state. The measure is primarily a technical but politically significant reapportionment bill. By specifying district composition down to the precinct and block level, it would directly affect where voters are assigned, which congressional district they vote in, and ultimately which U.S. House candidates represent different communities. It would also supersede the existing statutory district descriptions in state law once enacted, taking effect immediately upon becoming law.

Impact

If enacted, HB7006 would amend Tennessee’s election and redistricting statutes to establish a new congressional district map for all nine districts. This would alter the legal boundaries used by election officials, county administrators, and voters, and would require implementation in voter registration, ballot preparation, and candidate filing. The bill affects every county included in the district descriptions, with especially detailed changes for populous and split counties such as Shelby, Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, and others.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill faced significant opposition. In the Congressional Redistricting Committee of Extraordinary Session II, it failed by a vote of 7 yeas to 15 nays. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate specific arguments, but the vote outcome indicates the proposal did not command majority support in committee.

Contention

The main point of contention is the redrawing of congressional district lines, which is inherently political because it can change the partisan and geographic balance of representation. The bill’s highly detailed map suggests disputes over which counties and precincts should be grouped together, and over how communities of interest are split or kept intact. The committee failure indicates that a majority of members were not persuaded by the proposed map, though the record provided does not identify which specific district configurations or policy concerns drove the opposition.