Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday canceled a special session that Mississippi lawmakers had been expected to hold next week to redraw state Supreme Court districts and possibly the state’s congressional map, delaying a fight that Republicans had hoped would reshape the state’s political lines before the next election cycle.
Reeves said the issue was not whether redistricting would happen but when. He said he would do what is in the best interest of Mississippi and what is in the best interest of America, and that he would work very closely with the Trump administration to accomplish both goals. He also said he expects any changes to take effect for the 2027 statewide elections.
The timing matters because the March 10 primary has already passed, leaving no immediate election pressure in the state. Republicans had hoped to push Mississippi’s U.S. House delegation from 3-1 to 4-0, an effort that would have zeroed in on Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Hinds County, who is seeking his 18th term representing the Delta region and, by Reeves’ description, has represented the district for 33 years.
Thompson and Reeves have already sparred on X over the district, underscoring how quickly the issue has moved from mapmaking to political combat. The special session was tied to the Supreme Court’s Callais ruling on how race can or cannot factor into redistricting, and several Republican-led states have moved to redraw congressional maps after that decision. Mississippi officials had been weighing changes to state Supreme Court districts and possibly congressional districts at the same time.
The competing clocks help explain the pause. Scott Presler said the redistricting must be finished so it can take effect before the 2026 elections, while Reeves is signaling a longer runway, saying the answer is not if redistricting happens but when. A separate state map drawn by Pastor William Pierce of Columbia, with evenly divided 22-24-point Republican districts, shows how aggressively some allies want to redraw the lines if and when the session returns.
For now, the cancellation pushes the state’s next move into later negotiations, and the real question is whether Reeves’ preferred timetable can survive a national push to act sooner.
