Special Report: The High-Stakes Primary to Defy the Gerrymander
On the ground at Justin J. Pearson’s rally with AOC, Summer Lee, and Ayanna Pressley—and why Tennessee’s redrawn map is a warning for the entire nation.
This special edition of Finally Fridays covers the Democratic Primary in the newly-gerrymandered District 9 in Tennessee and an on-the-ground report and footage from the recent Justin J. Pearson rally in Memphis.
The Breakdown — Memphis Takes Center Stage Against Gerrymandering
Act I: The Catalyst for the Rally & The 191-Mile Monster
When the Supreme Court effectively dismantled key protections of the Voting Rights Act earlier this year, political analysts across mainstream and independent media warned that Southern statehouses would rush to redraw their maps. Tennessee’s GOP supermajority didn't even wait for the ink to dry.
In a matter of days during a May special session, state lawmakers dismantled District 9—Memphis’s historic majority-Black, Democratic seat—splicing the city into three long stretches of land spanning from Memphis into deeply rural, conservative territory. Overnight, District 9 (a district that once tightly held Memphis) became a sprawling 191-mile monster spanning 15 counties.
The radical redraw upended two decades of relative political stability in terms of national representation, prompting longtime Congressman Steve Cohen to announce he would not seek re-election on the redrawn map. Tennessee suddenly became Ground Zero for a new era of American electoral math.
In a nutshell, the shift of TN-09 comes down to this:
Historic District 9: Compact, majority-Black, urban Memphis seat
Redrawn District 9: 191 miles and 15 countries wide, rural conservative voters outnumber the sliver of urban liberal voters left in the district
Two maps illustrate what the legislature has done to divvy up what was the state’s only Black-majority district.
TN’s Congressional Districts Before May 7, 2026. The old District 9 (which encompassed all of Memphis and parts of other neighboring areas) is on the far bottom left in green in a fairly-reasonably divided electoral map.
Source: TN Secretary of State sos.tn.gov
TN’s New Congressional Districts as of May 7, 2026. Memphis is chopped into three districts, on the far bottom left in yellow, green, and red — the new District 9 is in red is the most egregiously gerrymandered, stretching across half the state.
Source: TN Secretary of State sos.tn.gov
Act 2: The Democratic Crossroads
Cohen’s surprise exit triggered an immediate existential test for Democrats: How do you fight a map that was explicitly engineered to silence your voice? The Democratic primary has largely come down to a choice between two distinct political strategies:
The Pragmatic Insider: State Sen. London Lamar (endorsed by outgoing US Rep. Steve Cohen, who represented the old TN-09 for 20 years) would represent continuity after Cohen’s departure. She points to her legislative record navigating the GOP supermajority in TN to deliver results for her constituents. Some policy proposals include protecting access to healthcare, improving maternal healthcare, affordable housing, protecting voting rights, and lowering the cost of living.
The Movement Populist: State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (one of the Tennessee Three and an activist who successfully opposing the Byhalia Connection Pipeline) has built his campaign on his growing national profile, environmental activism, and grassroots organizing to build a vocal working-class coalition. Some key policy proposals include healthcare for all, eliminating money in politics, combatting industrial pollution and data centers, preventing private equity from buying up homes, and economic policies for working people over “corporations and billionaires.”
Two other contenders—Jim Torino (generally center-left policies) and M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams (populist on local issues)—are considered to be outsiders unlikely to garner enough votes to win, and thus have not been widely discussed in the media.
The race between Pearson and Lamar has become a classic battle for the soul of a party operating in hostile territory: should they counter GOP gerrymandering with steady, institutional experience, or win over voters with aggressive, movement-driven populism?
Act 3: The National Counter-Offensive, courtsey of AOC, Lee, and Pressley
That strategic question is exactly why West Tennessee suddenly became the focus of the US political scene last Friday night. National progressive heavyweights—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Summer Lee—descended on Memphis to lock arms with Pearson.
They weren't just in town for a standard endorsement stop. Their presense made it clear that the fight for Tennessee's 9th District is no longer just a local primary—it is a testing ground for fighting back in the post-Voting Rights Amendment South.
The Rally—Highlights, Quotes, and Clips from an energizing 1,000-person event
There were a dozen speakers during the event, both local and national figures ranging from union leaders, to state legislators, to pastors, to the families of the four victims—Darrin Pigram, Jonah Neal, Tyrin Johnson, and Alfonso Ivy—of Memphis’s “Safe” Task Force ordered by Donald Trump and overseen by Governor Lee.
Here are a few important highlights from the headline speakers.
Rep. Summer Lee (PA) painted Memphis as Ground Zero for citizen disenfranchisement by the system, comparing the GOP’s redistricting to Jim Crow tactics while calling out the out-of-touch Democratic establishment’s approach to working-class struggles. Lee argued that working families dealing with inflation need visible action rather than policy papers. She drew parallels between Western Pennsylvania and West Tennessee, mentioning her morning "toxic tour" of local refineries and data centers as evidence of a pattern of corporate neglect that is plaguing the country nationwide. Her message framed the District 9 primary as a matter of democratic survival: "In fascism and authoritarianism and racism... they need your consent to exist. And it's imperative right now that we do not give it."
“There’s a lot of people who can’t fight fascism because they’re too busy fighting progress[…] We can’t afford to be the United States of the north and the United States of the south. We can’t afford to be the free States of the United States and the gerrymandered states.” Rep. Summer Lee
Rep. Summer Lee (cell phone footage I took at the event)
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA) linked the legacy of MLK’s final days directly to modern economic survival. King was assassinated in 1968 while visiting Memphis in solidarity with the famous “I Am A Man” movement for livable working conditions for city sanitation workers. Lee challenged the audience to take direct political action, including urging supporters to turn out for early voting. She described Pearson not as a national celebrity, but as a reliable neighbor who shows up when it matters most, including the fight against Elon Musk’s xAI data centers. Pressley’s call to “pick up where King left off” reframed the local primary as continuation of a historical duty.
“If they can legislate hurt and harm, I believe we can and we must legislate healing, legislate justice, legislate restoration. […] Another world is possible. One that chooses people over profit, peace over war, freedom over fascism.” Rep. Ayanna Pressley
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) painted the race for District 9 as an example of Grassroots vs. Goliath, and the rally as a continuation of the historical work of the 1960s Civil Rights movement. She invoked Dr. King’s final address in Memphis to call on people to practice collective, "dangerous unselfishness." She highlighted Pearson’s record as an environmental activist and organizer who stopped two crude oil pipelines, citing it as proof that grassroots power can successfully take on corporate dominance. She reframed the gerrymander as a miscalculation by the GOP that will backfire.
Oftentimes people try to accuse folks of us of being something like too woke. It’s because they don’t like when we wake up. When people wake up, Memphis, we stand together... when we wake up, we realize all that money we’re spending on bombs abroad could be spent on schools right here at home.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (candidate for TN-09) closed out the event by connecting four centuries of Black Southern history directly to the present situation, arguing that manipulating the electoral map won’t suppress an organized community. He honored the victims of the state- and federally-led Memphis “Unsafe” Task Force and called out those responsible head-on. Rooting his platform in economic survival, he outlined policy goals ranging from a $25 minimum wage to halting corporate environmental exploitation. He challenged the room to reject cynicism and look past the redrawn lines: "They forgot that the Constitution doesn't start with 'We the politicians.' It doesn't start with 'We the billionaires.' It starts with the three most important words ever written... 'We the people.'"
They’re using the resource that we need to live [water] to cool their computers to make billions of more dollars while making each and every one of us unemployed. […] I’m inviting you to go to the ballot box—not against somebody, not against something, but go FOR something. This campaign is for us, the 99.9% of us. If you are not a billionaire, you are one of us..” State Rep. Justin J. Pearson
State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (cell phone footage I took at the event)
My Take: Big-Name Politicians and Fiery Speeches Bring Hope for Thursday’s Primary
This 1,000-person political rally—which speakers called one of the biggest in Memphis history—was exactly what was needed to get people fired up locally to volunteer and vote, as well as to secure broad press coverage ranging from local broadcasts and The Commercial Appeal to national outlets like The Guardian. It felt surreal to be there both personally and with the knowledge that I’d be writing about it for this newsletter.
I’ve been to protests before, including a No Kings Protest last year and a couple of local political meetings a few years ago. But this was my first actual campaign rally, and I didn’t quite know what to expect. New Direction Christian Church shares a parking lot with several businesses, so when I arrived, I assumed most of the cars were there for people running errands. Once I saw the massive line wrapping around the building, I realized just how big the event was going to be.
Volunteers came around to greet the crowd, encouraging people to phone bank or knock on doors leading up to the primary. A few volunteers were also selling campaign materials, including AOC pins. Once I cleared security—with staff using a wand to check everyone coming through the doors—they split the line between pre-registered attendees (like me) and walk-ins.
My three biggest surprises from inside the event:
The Room’s Explosive Energy: I was struck by how quickly energy surged through the venue when the choir sang midway through the event—we were in a church, after all—and when speakers called out both local crises (the xAI data centers and the Memphis “Safe” Task Force) and national fights (raising the minimum wage and getting big money out of politics). Audience members repeatedly stood up to applaud at key moments, igniting the room further.
Summer Lee’s Unfiltered Oratory: I thought Rep. Summer Lee was the most passionate and inspiring speaker of the night (with Pearson definitely giving her a run for her money). Much of her speech felt entirely off-the-cuff, which made it even more impressive. Neither she nor Pearson hesitated to call out fascists in the GOP alongside establishment Democrats who, as Lee put it, “can’t fight fascism because they’re too busy fighting progress.”
AOC Meeting the Local Moment: As a major national figure (and potential future presidential contender), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could have delivered a standard, canned stump speech. Instead, she personalized her remarks for Memphis, speaking passionately about civil rights history and quoting Dr. King’s final speech. She detailed the “toxic tour” she and fellow lawmakers took to see the pollution wrought by xAI’s data centers, pointing directly to coal ash that she noted was “more radioactive than nuclear waste.” I’ve been critical of AOC in the past for not taking on party leadership more forcefully, but she deserves huge credit for showing up in West Tennessee, taking the time to educate herself on local issues, inspecting the neighborhoods hit by environmental pollution firsthand, and engaging directly with residents.
Image grabbed from Justin J. Pearson’s website
This primary has implications far beyond Tennessee’s 9th District—it serves as a direct test case for the Democratic Party’s strategy and the GOP’s redistricting playbook nationwide. Will high-profile progressive endorsements, an energetic crowd, national media attention, small-dollar donor support, and a fiery progressive message be enough to bring Pearson over the finish line?
If you want to learn more about Justin J. Pearson’s campaign, contribute, or volunteer, visit his website at votejustinj.com. Early voting ends tomorrow (Saturday, August 1) and the primary election is Thursday, August 6. I’ll be reporting on the results in the next edition of Finally Fridays, so make sure to share this issue and subscribe!