# GOP Gerrymandering Worked in Tennessee—But Just Barely

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/gop-gerrymandering-worked-in-tennessee-but-just-barely/
- Published: 2026-11-04T23:28:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T01:04:59+00:00
- Original publisher: Mother Jones (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/11/justin-pearson-gop-gerrymandering-tennessee-ninth-district-taylor/
- Topics: Elections, Politics

## Key points

- Brent Taylor beat Justin Pearson by about 2,500 votes.
- Tennessee’s new map gave Republicans a 21-point advantage in the 9th.
- Democrats flipped another Tennessee seat, in the 4th District.

## Summary

Republican Brent Taylor narrowly won Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Justin Pearson by about 2,500 votes with 99 per cent of ballots counted. The result suggests the state’s redrawn map helped Republicans secure a seat that had been made substantially more favourable to them after a Supreme Court ruling weakened federal voting rights protections.

The legislature split the Memphis-area district, where white voters had not been a majority, into three districts designed to lean Republican; the new 9th gave the party a 21-point advantage. Pearson campaigned on economic populism and opposition to data centre expansion, while Taylor faced scrutiny over reports that he had sent unsolicited nude photos. Democrats also flipped Tennessee’s 4th District, and Pearson said every county in the 9th swung towards Democrats compared with the previous election.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.