Mississippi officials and political commentators have pushed to redraw the state’s congressional map and eliminate the majority-Black 2nd District held by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Louisiana v. Callais decision, according to public statements and social media posts.
State Auditor Shad White posted more than 20 times on social media in recent days urging the Legislature to end what he called a district “gerrymandered to protect Bennie Thompson,” according to his posts. Some Mississippi officials have said the court ruling gave them leeway to redraw districts that had been protected under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
State Sen. Kevin Blackwell wrote on social media that Thompson, who chaired the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, should be stripped of his seat, posting that it was “time to red-pill Mississippi and wipe out that gerrymandered seat once and for all,” according to his post. Critics have frequently criticized Thompson for his role on the panel.
Gov. Tate Reeves wrote that Thompson’s “reign of terror on MS-2 is over,” according to the governor’s public comment. Thompson is the lone Democrat and only Black member of Mississippi’s congressional delegation. His congressional biography says he was first elected in 1993 and previously served as mayor of Bolton and as a Hinds County supervisor.
Supporters and other commentators note Thompson has been repeatedly elected by a majority of voters in the 2nd District, which comprises about one-quarter of the state’s population, and that Mississippi’s African American population was about 40 percent in the 2020 U.S. Census. Those observers say voters in the district have the right to choose their representative, according to public statements and Thompson’s official biography.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
