A360
Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
01
Special session for redistricting canceled.
02
Congressional lines to be redrawn by 2027.
03
Logistical challenges cited for delay.
Atlas AI
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday canceled a special legislative session that had been scheduled for next week to redraw the state’s Supreme Court districts, citing logistical and timing challenges. Reeves said the state still expects to redraw congressional, legislative and Supreme Court district lines before the 2027 elections.
The planned session was focused on Supreme Court districts, but Reeves said completing that work on the current schedule was not practical. The cancellation pauses the immediate effort to redraw those judicial districts.
Reeves, a Republican, said the state’s four congressional districts are also expected to be reconfigured, but argued that doing so before the 2026 midterm elections would be difficult. He said an accelerated timeline could hurt Republicans in congressional races, including because it could require invalidating primary results and could make some Republican-held areas more competitive if lines were adjusted to include more Democratic voters.
Redistricting timeline and political stakes
Reeves said lawmakers are expected to take up congressional, legislative and Supreme Court redistricting at some point between now and the 2027 elections. He said the question is when the work will occur, not whether it will happen.
He also indicated the congressional process is expected to focus on the district held by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson. Thompson is Mississippi’s lone Democratic member of Congress and represents the state’s second congressional district.
Court ruling and the March primaries
The state held primary elections for congressional seats in March, before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, which affected redistricting considerations in several states. Reeves said an immediate redraw aimed at changing congressional lines could raise complications for the election calendar because the primaries have already been held.
Reeves said he expects the state’s map changes to proceed on a longer timeline, with lawmakers addressing multiple sets of district lines ahead of the 2027 elections.
