JACKSON — Mississippi voting rights organizers are canvassing communities ahead of legislative hearings as state legislators consider whether to redraw congressional, legislative and judicial districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race and redistricting.

The Mississippi Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting is holding eight public hearings across the state through Oct. 1 to gather comments about possible changes to district boundaries. 

The hearings follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s April decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a Louisiana congressional map that created an additional majority-Black district. The court found that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create that district and that race had been used unconstitutionally in drawing it. 

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The ruling did not require Mississippi to redraw its maps, but state lawmakers are considering how the decision affects the state’s districts and whether changes should be made. 

Organizers push participation 

Jayda Barnes, field director for Mississippi Votes, said the affiliated Mississippi Votes Action Fund is canvassing communities to make sure residents know when and where they can participate. 

Barnes and several volunteers traveled to Tupelo on Aug. 17 to knock on doors ahead of the first hearing. 

“Some people knew about it. Some people were completely oblivious to it,” Barnes said. “Some people just needed some accurate information.” 

Barnes said she knew of at least five people who attended the hearing after speaking with canvassers. Volunteers also encouraged residents to share information about the hearing through social media and word of mouth. 

Barnes said canvassers regularly hear concerns about issues including Medicaid expansion and the grocery tax, but she has not heard residents asking for their district boundaries to be redrawn. 

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At the Tupelo hearing, she said many speakers questioned the need for new maps and expressed concern that changes could weaken minority voting strength. 

“There was a good crowd at the event,” Barnes said. “People were saying most about how it would dilute the vote.” 

Other voting rights advocates have also questioned why lawmakers are reconsidering the maps before the next census. 

Amir Badat, senior adviser with Fair Fight, argued lawmakers should focus instead on increasing protections for Black voters.

“This is not an effort to increase fairness and justice for the district maps,” Badat said during an Aug. 10 event at the state Capitol. “This is an effort to discriminate against Black citizens.” 

Court ruling changes redistricting debate 

During an Aug. 10 meeting, Dallas Breen, executive director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Engagement, briefed lawmakers about redistricting requirements following the Supreme Court decision. 

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“The fundamental purpose is equal representation,” Breen said. “The fundamental purpose is one person, one vote.” 

Louisiana created its second majority-Black congressional district after a federal court found its previous map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it contained only one majority-Black district in a state where about one-third of residents are Black. 

The Supreme Court concluded that Section 2 did not require the additional majority-Black district and therefore could not justify the state’s use of race in drawing it. 

Breen told lawmakers that the decision changes how race may be considered in redistricting but does not eliminate requirements related to equal population or protections for minority voters. 

“You still need to have equalized populations,” Breen said. “You must consider minority voters, must follow the constitutional requirements and the idea of defensible district plans.” 

Lawmakers consider next steps 

Rep. Mark Tullos, R-Raleigh, vice chairman of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee, said the hearings give lawmakers an opportunity to hear from residents before deciding what changes, if any, should be made. 

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“Our state is multicultural, multiracial,” Tullos said. “You want to get the input of those citizens so you make sure that when you do redistrict, you’re drawing districts to make sure those communities stay together.” 

Tullos said lawmakers have not settled on specific maps and will consider public comments before deciding how to proceed. 

The Legislature’s redistricting website lists Mississippi’s congressional map enacted in January 2022 and state House and Senate maps adopted by a federal court in May 2025 as the maps currently in place. 

Barnes said Mississippi Votes Action Fund plans to continue canvassing ahead of the remaining hearings. 

“It’s so important that people go and attend and use their voice,” Barnes said. 

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The next hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the MBA Building Auditorium on Alcorn State University’s Natchez campus. Additional hearings are scheduled for Sept. 10 in Meridian, Sept. 17 in Hattiesburg, Sept. 22 in Biloxi and Oct. 1 at the state Capitol in Jackson. All are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. 

This article first appeared on RHCJC and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

• The Senate Appropriations Committee chairman will be turning in his gavel in January 2028, deciding to step away from the Mississippi Legislature after five terms.

State Senator Briggs Hopson said Monday that he would not be running for statewide office in the 2027 election cycle.

He will also not seek re-election to the Mississippi Senate District 23 seat that he has held for five terms.

The Republican Senate Appropriations Committee chairman had been rumored to be on a short list of potential candidates considering a run for Attorney General next year. The Attorney General seat is now an open seat following Lynn Fitch’s announced gubernatorial bid.

“Over the last few weeks, I’ve had many encouraging conversations with friends and colleagues across Mississippi about a potential statewide run for office next year,” Hopson wrote on social media. “However, after serious consideration, Ali and I have decided that this is not the right time for us to undertake such a tremendous commitment.”

Had Hopson entered the Attorney General’s race, he would have been pitted against fellow Republican Sean Tindell, the current Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.

Tindell, a former state senator himself as well as a former judge, announced his campaign to be Mississippi’s chief legal and law enforcement officer in mid-August. Since his announcement, Tindell has picked up key endorsements from county sheriffs, district attorneys, police chiefs and others in the law enforcement community across the Magnolia State.

Hopson was viewed as one of the few who could give Tindell a serious challenge, due to the state senator’s network and his sizable campaign war chest of nearly $1 million.

Regarding his decision to not run for Attorney General next year, Hopson said any successful candidate “must be 100% committed to the campaign,” and that was going to be impossible for him due to his obligations to his “legal clients who deserve my attention to their personal and business matters, my Senate constituents, and colleagues who trust me to oversee the Appropriations Committee.”

“I take these obligations very seriously and feel they deserve my full focus, which would be nearly impossible if I were a statewide candidate,” Hopson said.

Hopson concluded his social media announcement by saying, “I greatly appreciate the encouragement and support I have received during this exploratory process, but I will not be a candidate for office in 2027.”

He told Magnolia Tribune early Tuesday morning it has been “a good 20 years (after next year)” and that he plans to look for opportunities to serve his community and Mississippi in other ways in the future.

Hopson’s current term ends in January 2028.

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi voting rights organizers are canvassing communities ahead of legislative hearings as state legislators consider whether to redraw congressional, legislative and judicial districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race and redistricting.

The Mississippi Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting is holding eight public hearings across the state through Oct. 1 to gather comments about possible changes to district boundaries. 

The hearings follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s April decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a Louisiana congressional map that created an additional majority-Black district. The court found that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create that district and that race had been used unconstitutionally in drawing it. 

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The ruling did not require Mississippi to redraw its maps, but state lawmakers are considering how the decision affects the state’s districts and whether changes should be made. 

Organizers push participation 

Jayda Barnes, field director for Mississippi Votes, said the affiliated Mississippi Votes Action Fund is canvassing communities to make sure residents know when and where they can participate. 

Barnes and several volunteers traveled to Tupelo on Aug. 17 to knock on doors ahead of the first hearing. 

“Some people knew about it. Some people were completely oblivious to it,” Barnes said. “Some people just needed some accurate information.” 

Barnes said she knew of at least five people who attended the hearing after speaking with canvassers. Volunteers also encouraged residents to share information about the hearing through social media and word of mouth. 

Barnes said canvassers regularly hear concerns about issues including Medicaid expansion and the grocery tax, but she has not heard residents asking for their district boundaries to be redrawn. 

Advertisement

At the Tupelo hearing, she said many speakers questioned the need for new maps and expressed concern that changes could weaken minority voting strength. 

“There was a good crowd at the event,” Barnes said. “People were saying most about how it would dilute the vote.” 

Other voting rights advocates have also questioned why lawmakers are reconsidering the maps before the next census. 

Amir Badat, senior adviser with Fair Fight, argued lawmakers should focus instead on increasing protections for Black voters.

“This is not an effort to increase fairness and justice for the district maps,” Badat said during an Aug. 10 event at the state Capitol. “This is an effort to discriminate against Black citizens.” 

Court ruling changes redistricting debate 

During an Aug. 10 meeting, Dallas Breen, executive director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Engagement, briefed lawmakers about redistricting requirements following the Supreme Court decision. 

Advertisement

“The fundamental purpose is equal representation,” Breen said. “The fundamental purpose is one person, one vote.” 

Louisiana created its second majority-Black congressional district after a federal court found its previous map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it contained only one majority-Black district in a state where about one-third of residents are Black. 

The Supreme Court concluded that Section 2 did not require the additional majority-Black district and therefore could not justify the state’s use of race in drawing it. 

Breen told lawmakers that the decision changes how race may be considered in redistricting but does not eliminate requirements related to equal population or protections for minority voters. 

“You still need to have equalized populations,” Breen said. “You must consider minority voters, must follow the constitutional requirements and the idea of defensible district plans.” 

Lawmakers consider next steps 

Rep. Mark Tullos, R-Raleigh, vice chairman of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee, said the hearings give lawmakers an opportunity to hear from residents before deciding what changes, if any, should be made. 

Advertisement

“Our state is multicultural, multiracial,” Tullos said. “You want to get the input of those citizens so you make sure that when you do redistrict, you’re drawing districts to make sure those communities stay together.” 

Tullos said lawmakers have not settled on specific maps and will consider public comments before deciding how to proceed. 

The Legislature’s redistricting website lists Mississippi’s congressional map enacted in January 2022 and state House and Senate maps adopted by a federal court in May 2025 as the maps currently in place. 

Barnes said Mississippi Votes Action Fund plans to continue canvassing ahead of the remaining hearings. 

“It’s so important that people go and attend and use their voice,” Barnes said. 

Advertisement

The next hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the MBA Building Auditorium on Alcorn State University’s Natchez campus. Additional hearings are scheduled for Sept. 10 in Meridian, Sept. 17 in Hattiesburg, Sept. 22 in Biloxi and Oct. 1 at the state Capitol in Jackson. All are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. 

This article first appeared on RHCJC and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.