Nashville, Tenn.–Without fanfare, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that redraws the state’s Senate and House districts.
On Monday, Gov. Lee signed Tennessee’s new legislative and congressional maps into law. All three plans were approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in January.
The Tennessee Democratic Party has announced its intention to sue over the new maps.
The redistricting will have a major impact on Henry County by eliminating the 75th district, which currently is represented by State Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris, who earlier announced he would not be seeking reelection as a State Representative, but instead would be seeking the position of Circuit Court Judge.
Henry County now will be represented by 76th District Rep. Tandy Darby (R-Greenfield) and 74th District Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin).
The changes have been under discussion in Nashville for some time. State law requires the General Assembly to redistrict based on the U.S. Census every 10 years.
Henry County Mayor John Penn Ridgeway told RadioNWTN in December, “What happened here is that Northwest Tennessee lost so much in population in the last census that we lost a whole seat.”
The changes to Congressional Districts will have no impact on Henry County.