Miss. governor rescinds special session on state Supreme Court redistricting
Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday he will rescind a special legislative session call to redraw Mississippi Supreme Court districts after plaintiffs in the case stipulated they would not seek new judicial elections in 2026.
Reeves told SuperTalk Radio that because the plaintiffs had made the stipulation, “there is no longer any reason for the Legislature to come in on next Wednesday for judicial redistricting” and that he planned to rescind the call later Wednesday.
The move follows action earlier this week by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which vacated a liability order in the state Supreme Court redistricting case after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The high court in that case ruled that certain race-based redistricting under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional, and the Mississippi matter was remanded to U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, who gave the parties 14 days to file on next steps.
Reeves said he believes the case should be dismissed. He acknowledged pressure from some Republicans to add congressional redistricting to a special session call before the November midterms but said such a move would be complicated because Mississippi has already held its primaries. Reeves also downplayed any “pressure” or “encouragement” from the White House and said “no one is working closer with the White House on what a congressional redistricting plan would look like than me,” adding he would “work very closely with the Trump administration” on what he called the state’s and nation’s best interests.
While he did not commit to calling a special session for congressional maps, Reeves said he supports having the Legislature redraw congressional lines between now and the 2027 legislative session. He also said legislative redistricting should wait for the same reason, citing calendar concerns for local election officials; Reeves noted that Section 2-driven special elections in 2025 led to Republicans losing a supermajority in the state Senate.
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