U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled Wednesday that plaintiffs in Harris v. DeSoto County did not provide sufficient evidence that the county's electoral maps were drawn to intentionally dilute Black voting power.
The federal lawsuit, filed in September 2024, alleged that the 2022 DeSoto County redistricting plan diluted Black voting power in county office elections. Plaintiffs sought a new redistricting plan along with special elections for positions on the boards of supervisors and education, the election commission, constable offices, and justice court judge seats.
The ruling comes after the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections against racially discriminatory redistricting. Davidson's ruling explicitly referenced this precedent in dismissing the plaintiffs' claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
What the Right Is Saying
Mike Hurst, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party who represented DeSoto County in the case, defended the ruling. He told Mississippi Public Broadcasting that the lawsuit was simply a case of political frustration, saying "Democrats are mad they can't win an election in DeSoto County because it's a Republican county."
Conservative voices have emphasized that the judge found insufficient evidence of intentional discrimination, arguing this demonstrates the current maps reflect legitimate partisan and geographic boundaries rather than racially motivated districting.
What the Left Is Saying
The ACLU of Mississippi released a statement calling the decision "deeply disappointing." The organization wrote that the Callais opinion "pretends to adhere to the text of the Voting Rights Act and only updates the test for proving vote dilution. In reality, the Supreme Court is directing federal courts to close their eyes and ignore the clear results of discriminatory maps."
Civil rights advocates argue that despite DeSoto County's demographic shifts toward a more diverse population, the electoral map has failed to translate that growth into meaningful representation for Black residents in county-level offices.
What the Numbers Show
DeSoto County, located just south of Memphis in northwest Mississippi, has been one of the state's fastest-growing counties for years. The Black population now represents more than 30% of the county's total population of approximately 190,000 residents. Despite this demographic reality, none of the 25 county offices determined by the current map is held by a Black person.
However, the county does have some Black elected officials: A sheriff elected countywide, Democratic Black state legislators serving from majority-Black legislative districts, and a Black Republican House member elected from a majority-white district. The lawsuit did not address state legislative districts.
The Bottom Line
The ruling marks a significant legal defeat for voting rights advocates seeking to reshape local electoral maps in one of Mississippi's most populous suburban counties. The case now operates under the framework established by the Supreme Court's Callais decision, which raised the standard for proving vote dilution claims. What this means for future redistricting challenges remains unclear as courts continue to interpret the new legal landscape.