Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) called off Mississippi’s special legislative session to redraw the state’s judicial map after the previous court-ordered redraw was deemed incongruent with the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais.Reeves explained in a Wednesday morning radio interview with SuperTalk Mississippi Media that “there is no reason for the legislature to come in” anymore. The special session was not for congressional redistricting, but for redrawing the state’s Supreme Court map after a federal court ordered in 2025 that the judicial map diluted the votes of Mississippi’s black residents. Reeves called that initial federal court ruling in north Mississippi an “asinine ruling.”After the Supreme Court’s decision in Callais, the state and the plaintiffs in that case filed a joint motion to halt the court-ordered redraw, Reeves said, and the judge vacated the order.
“There is no longer any reason for the legislature to come in on next Wednesday,” Reeves said, referring to the day the special session was slated to begin. The next time the state legislature could change the judicial map would be its next full legislative session, which starts at the beginning of 2027.
Reeves, however, stood firm in his desire to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Republicans. The state’s current map gives Republicans a 3-1 advantage, with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) being the only Democrat. Reeves said he is in “constant” communication with the White House about congressional redistricting.
