About 200 people packed Gaisman Park in Memphis's Berclair neighborhood Saturday afternoon for a rally pushing residents to vote early and understand this year's ballot measures, against the backdrop of a newly redrawn congressional map that now splits Shelby County among three districts. The event doubled as a civics lesson and a turnout drive, with organizers setting up literature tables just steps from one of the city's active early voting sites.
The gathering, dubbed the “Party to the Polls” rally, was organized by Indivisible Memphis and featured live music alongside tables stocked with t-shirts and literature about voting rights and ballot amendments, according to Tennessee Lookout. The Gaisman Park Community Center itself served as one of Memphis's early voting locations, putting the rally within arm's reach of the ballot box it was promoting, as detailed in the Memphis Flyer's report on the event.
A County Carved Into Three Districts
The rally's backdrop was a congressional map that Tennessee lawmakers passed 25-5 along party lines, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law on May 7, as reported by ABC News. That map broke up the state's current 9th Congressional District — previously made up primarily of Memphis and the only majority-Black congressional district in Tennessee, per the same ABC News report.
Memphis and the surrounding Shelby County suburbs, once split between the 9th and 8th districts, are now divided into three districts with newly redrawn boundaries: the new 5th, 8th and 9th, according to WREG. The new lines divide Shelby County among three districts drawn to maximize Republican chances of carrying all three, the Lookout's earlier reporting on a NAACP Tennessee lawsuit challenging the map found.
Longtime Activists and First-Time Marchers
Among those at Gaisman Park was 76-year-old Millie Patterson of Cordova, who said she became politically active after Donald Trump won the presidency and now attends whatever protest she can. She told the Memphis Flyer she wants to be “a thorn” in Trump's side.
Joe Calhoun, a 78-year-old longtime activist who has worked with Democratic Memphis state Rep. Justin Pearson for many years, showed up carrying a sign depicting himself marching for civil rights in 1968. Calhoun described a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued in April as, in his view, a repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and said voting barriers impede people's right to vote. He has four grandchildren in their teens or twenties, and while he supports Pearson's congressional campaign, the new district lines mean Calhoun himself cannot vote for him.
Pearson's Campaign and a Divided Electorate
Pearson is campaigning to represent Tennessee's 9th Congressional District, a seat that previously encompassed Shelby County and had long been a Democratic stronghold. At the rally, he said that not voting allows others to make decisions for a community. One woman at the event will instead be represented in the new 5th District, grouped alongside residents of rural northwest Tennessee and Williamson County — a pairing that underscores how far the new boundaries stretch beyond Memphis.
A Rematch in House District 97
The rally also drew attention to down-ballot races, including Jesse Huseth's second run as the Democratic candidate for Tennessee House District 97 against Republican incumbent John Gillespie. Huseth said he is presenting himself more authentically this time around and has seen a positive response, according to the Lookout's reporting. He's campaigning on eliminating the state grocery tax and making Pre-K more accessible, and Democrats have invested tens of thousands of dollars in his campaign this year.
Notably, District 97 voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election even as it elected a Republican state representative — a split that both parties are watching closely this cycle. Early voting for the state and federal general election and municipal election runs October 14 through October 29, per Shelby County election officials, giving Memphis voters roughly two more weeks to cast ballots before the window closes.
