Tennessee Democrat ends re-election bid after map redrawing carves up his district

Democratic representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee on Friday announced that he is ending his bid for re-election, his career upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s supreme court decision. Republicans in Tennessee this month enacted a new US House map that carves up Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections. “I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,” Cohen told reporters in his Washington DC office. Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said that he would re-enter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district. He lamented that Tennessee would probably shift to an entirely Republican congressional delegation after the next election, warning that it could also leave the state out of the loop once Democrats are able to regain the White House. Redistricting targeted Cohen’s district Tennessee was the first state to pass new congressional districts after a US supreme court ruling that significantly weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. But more southern states could follow. Republicans in Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina also have taken steps toward redistricting. …