{"id":28586,"date":"2026-05-14T10:34:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/28586\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:34:45","slug":"mississippi-governor-thompsons-reign-of-terror-is-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/28586\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Governor: Thompson\u2019s \u2018Reign of Terror Is Over\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mississippi will not redraw any of its electoral districts this month. Gov. Tate Reeves canceled a special legislative session to redistrict the state\u2019s Supreme Court map after a federal appeals court determined that the state no longer needs to create a majority-Black district. SuperTalk reported<\/a> Wednesday morning that Reeves said that \u201cthere is no reason for the Legislature to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the governor is urging the Mississippi Legislature to redraw its legislative, state supreme court and congressional lines before the 2027 elections, when state legislative seats will be on the ballot. He also vowed in a social media post<\/a> on Wednesday morning that the state\u2019s only Black congressman\u2019s \u201creign of terror\u201d will be \u201cover\u201d soon, referring to Democratic U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to clarify, I said I expect lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections! I also expect them to redraw legislative and Supreme Court lines between now and 2027 elections,\u201d Reeves posted<\/a> on social media Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

In 2025, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Judge Sharion Aycock ordered<\/a> Mississippi to redraw its state Supreme Court map, first adopted in 1987, to give more voting power to Black Mississippians, in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. More than a third of Mississippians are Black, but all three districts\u2014which each elect two Mississippi Supreme Court justices\u2014are majority-white.<\/p>\n

Voting rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit in 2022<\/a> alleging that the three majority-white districts used for electing Mississippi Supreme Court justices violated the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution by denying Black voters the option to elect a justice of their choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in its Louisiana v. Callais<\/a> ruling on April 29, the majority Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court largely neutralized Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has long ensured southern states couldn\u2019t lock Black voters out of representation. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently vacated the order<\/a> for Mississippi to redraw its state supreme court districts.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Mississippi Legislature redrew its state House and Senate district maps<\/a> to add more Black-majority districts after another court similarly ruled in 2024 that the state\u2019s previous map violated<\/a> Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by having too few districts where Black voters could elect candidates of their choice. Now, with the Voting Rights Act severely diminished, those gains Black voters made in representation in Mississippi could be rolled back if the Legislature redraws maps.<\/p>\n

Since the Callais ruling, several white Republican-led southern states have rushed to eliminate Black-majority districts, including Alabama<\/a>, Louisiana<\/a> and Tennessee<\/a>. South Carolina lawmakers yesterday stopped a redistricting attempt that would\u2019ve eliminated the seat held by U.S. House Rep. James Clyburn, the Palmetto state\u2019s only Black member of Congress, after five Republicans balked at the plan<\/a> despite pressure from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\"KabirMississippi House Corrections Committee member Rep. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, speaks during a committee meeting at the Mississippi Capitol Building in Jackson, Miss., on Jan. 28, 2026. MFP Photo by Rogelio V. Solis\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Kabir Karriem, a Democratic state representative from Columbus, called for transparency around redistricting, saying Reeves and legislative leaders should give fair warning if redrawing district maps was going to be part of the 2027 legislative session agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe session is now canceled, but the issue has not gone away. Black representation and Black voting power still deserve public attention, and Mississippi leaders still owe the people transparency,\u201d the chairman said in a Wednesday afternoon press release. \u201cWe know our history. We know what happens when decisions about voting power are made without the people in the room. Black political power must never be treated like something to move around, weaken, or bargain away behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson Vows to Fight Redistricting<\/p>\n

Gov. Reeves has hinted that he wants lawmakers to redraw Mississippi\u2019s 2nd Congressional District, which U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson has held for over three decades. Even though Mississippi is the state with the highest Black population by percent at 38%, Thompson is the only Black or Democratic official among the state\u2019s roster of eight statewide-elected state leaders, two U.S. senators and four U.S. House representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to fight against any effort to redraw my congressional district,\u201d Thompson vowed in a May 11 social media post.<\/p>\n

\"AHouse select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., pauses as he speaks to reporters as he leaves the hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, June 13, 2022. AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s district, which includes the Mississippi Delta and most of the capital city, Jackson, is 64% Black<\/a>. After Congress made amendments to the Voting Rights Act in 1982<\/a>, Mississippi created a majority-Black district following a federal court order that said its districts diluted Black voting power.<\/p>\n

After court-ordered redistricting in 1986, voters in Mississippi\u2019s 2nd Congressional District elected Mike Espy, the first Black man elected to Congress from Mississippi since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era in the late 1800s. Espy left the U.S. House in 1993 after then-President Bill Clinton appointed him to serve as U.S. secretary of agriculture, and voters elected Thompson to replace him. Democratic voters renominated Thompson, 78, for another term<\/a> during the March primaries.<\/p>\n

Reacting to Thompson\u2019s May 11 post, Reeves wrote<\/a> that the 2nd Congressional District does not belong to Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u201cBennie Thompson calls MS-2 \u2018my congressional district.\u2019 No Sir. MS-2 is not YOUR congressional district,\u201d wrote the governor, who annually declares April as Confederate Heritage Month<\/a>. \u201cIt is the people of Mississippi\u2019s!! Congressman Bennie G. Thompson\u2019s reign of terror on MS-2 is over. It is not a matter of \u2018IF\u2026\u2019 Just a matter of \u2018WHEN!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CheikhMississippi Democratic Party Chairman Mississippi House Rep. Cheikh Taylor of Starkville reacts to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, making it harder for minorities to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory under the landmark civil rights law at a Thursday, April 30, 2026 press conference Jackson, Miss., at the state Democratic Party\u2019s headquarters MFP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis<\/p>\n

On April 30, Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Cheikh Taylor, a Black state representative from Starkville, said it would be \u201cegregious\u201d for Republican lawmakers to encourage drawing the 2nd Congressional District lines to include more white voters than minority voters. Having a majority-minority district does not mean only Democrats or minorities would get elected, he said\u2014it just means minorities have a fair chance to elect candidates of their choosing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a potential that if it\u2019s tampered with too much, it actually may have an ill effect or an unwanted effect when it comes to conservatives,\u201d he told reporters at an April 30 press conference at the party\u2019s headquarters in downtown Jackson. \u201cWith 40% of the (state\u2019s population being Black), there\u2019s not a lot of places you can go to redistrict Black voters out and Black politicians out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blackwell: \u2018It\u2019s Time to Erase Bennie Thompson\u2019s District\u2019<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a white Republican, extended praise to President Donald Trump for appointing \u201ccommon sense\u201d conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. Those appointments cemented the 6-3 conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to the overturning of federal abortion rights<\/a>, the end of affirmative action<\/a> in college admissions and the further erosion of the Voting Rights Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRedistricting based on race has always been wrong,\u201d Hosemann said in a Wednesday social media post<\/a>. \u201cToday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling reaffirms one of Mississippi\u2019s fundamental states\u2019 rights and puts an end to years of federal overreach from Washington, D.C. Redistricting should be accomplished by the legislators Mississippians elect to represent them, and we have consistently proven we are more than capable of managing our own elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KevinMississippi Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, right, listens as Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, speaks at a press conference in Hosemann\u2019s office at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday, March 28, 2024. AP File Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis<\/p>\n

Mississippi Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a white Republican from Southaven, simply called to eliminate the state\u2019s 2nd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to erase Bennie Thompson\u2019s District,\u201d he said in a social media post<\/a> on April 29.<\/p>\n

Mississippi State Auditor Shad White, a white Republican, has also said repeatedly that he wants Mississippi to redraw its congressional districts to eliminate Thompson\u2019s district, which he said is currently racially \u201cgerrymandered.\u201d Mississippi\u2019s other three congressional districts are all more than 60% white.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis likely opens the door to redrawing Mississippi\u2019s congressional districts. Mississippi might no longer have a district drawn to protect Bennie Thompson,\u201d White posted<\/a> on social media on April 29 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. White is considering a run for governor in the 2027 election, although he has not made an official announcement yet.<\/p>\n

This morning, Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, a 2027 candidate for governor<\/a>, joined White\u2019s call<\/a> for lawmakers to eliminate Thompson\u2019s district.<\/p>\n

\u201cMississippi Conservatives agree with me, it is time for Bennie Thompson to go,\u201d the white Republican wrote.<\/p>\n

\"StateRepublican Mississippi State Auditor Shad White stares around the pavilion in Founders Square at the Neshoba County Fair, in Philadelphia, Miss., on July 29, 2021. AP Photo \/ Rogelio V. Solis, File<\/p>\n

White welcomed Gipson\u2019s support for eliminating Thompson\u2019s district in a video post<\/a> on Wednesday morning, and suggested President Donald Trump could help pressure state Republicans to eliminate the Democratic congressman\u2019s seat. Thompson, who served as the chairman of the January 6th Committee investigating Trump\u2019s role in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has long drawn the president\u2019s ire.<\/p>\n

\u201cBad news is that the Legislature now no longer has any plans to come back to Jackson to take up congressional redistricting,\u201d the state auditor said. \u201cBut look, President Trump has been pushing for this and putting pressure on lawmakers in states like South Carolina to come in and do redistricting, and I suspect he\u2019ll put pressure on Mississippi politicians to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mississippi will not redraw any of its electoral districts this month. Gov. Tate Reeves canceled a special legislative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17417,17418,17419,432,17420,8,17421,17422,7520,17423,17424,17425,17426,17427,9,2058,17428,12517,7,17429,3077],"class_list":{"0":"post-28586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-andy-gipson","9":"tag-bennie-thompson","10":"tag-chiekh-taylor","11":"tag-congress","12":"tag-delbert-hosemann","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-hinds-county","15":"tag-home-featured","16":"tag-jackson","17":"tag-jxnnews","18":"tag-kevin-blackwell","19":"tag-mississippi-capital-region","20":"tag-mississippi-legislature","21":"tag-mississippi-legislature-2026","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-redistricting","24":"tag-shad-white","25":"tag-tate-reeves","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-u-s-house","28":"tag-voting-rights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116572485365206782","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}