If you voted in Maury County's last congressional election and assumed your district is the same as it was, you may want to check again.
A new congressional map took effect in May. Maury County is now split between two different districts. Nearly 20,000 addresses in the county are affected. And the county elections office has confirmed it does not plan to mail notifications to voters whose districts changed.
The responsibility for finding out is yours. Here is everything you need to know.
How the Map Changed and Why
The Tennessee General Assembly convened a special session in early May 2026 and passed a redrawn congressional district map on May 7. The redrawing was triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's April ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which Republican legislators used as justification to redraw Tennessee's maps before the 2026 elections.
For Maury County the change is significant. The county previously sat entirely within Tennessee's 5th Congressional District. Under the new map, Maury County is divided between the 5th District and the 9th District, with a new boundary line running through the county affecting roughly five precincts.
Chaz Molder, Columbia's current mayor and a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 5th District, described the redistricting as "changing the rules in the middle of the game" in a June interview with Inside Politics Nashville. Whether you share that view or not, the practical reality is the same for every Maury County voter: the map is different and the primary is August 6.
What the New Districts Look Like
The redrawn 5th Congressional District now covers all of Maury, Lewis and Marshall counties along with parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties. The new district stretches from Middle Tennessee all the way to Memphis and into West Tennessee, touching Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi along the way. The Cook Political Report rates it R+8, meaning it leans reliably Republican.
The 9th District, which now picks up part of Maury County, covers portions of western Tennessee and Memphis. It is a substantially different district from anything most Maury County voters have been part of before.
Who Is Running
Three Republicans are competing in the 5th District primary on August 6: incumbent Andy Ogles, who served as Maury County Mayor before winning the seat in 2022, and challengers Charlie Hatcher and Micheal O'Leary.
Five Democrats are running in the 5th District primary: Mike Cortese, Chaz Molder, Joyce Neal, Elizabeth Stephens and Jim Torino.
The Muletown Journal will cover the candidates and their positions in a separate piece ahead of the August 6 primary.
The Lawsuit That Was Filed and Dropped
When the new maps passed in May, the Tennessee Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit challenging them, arguing the maps were drawn to dilute Democratic and minority voting power particularly in Memphis. The court denied the request for expedited relief, meaning the maps would stay in place for the August 6 election regardless of the lawsuit's outcome.
With that ruling in hand the Tennessee Democratic Party voluntarily dismissed its case. Party Chair Rachel Campbell said the decision came after the court denied expedited relief. "We moved onto our next battlefield: the ballot box," she said.
Two other legal challenges remain active, one from the ACLU and one from the NAACP and League of Women Voters. Both are pursuing separate arguments at the federal level. Those cases are ongoing but will not affect the August 6 election.
For Maury County voters the bottom line is straightforward. The new maps are in effect. They will govern both the August 6 primary and the November general election.
What You Need to Do Before August 6
Maury County Elections Administrator Chris Mackinlay confirmed that roughly five precincts are affected by the new boundary and that the county will not mail district change notifications to affected voters. He said he is confident the changes can be implemented in time but acknowledged concerns about Election Day confusion and said additional staffing may be added at affected precincts.
Three things every Maury County voter should do now:
- Look up your congressional district using the Tennessee Secretary of State's address lookup tool to confirm which district you are in and which race you will be voting in.
- Confirm your voter registration is current.
- Note that Tennessee has an open primary, meaning any registered voter can participate in either party's primary on August 6 without declaring a party affiliation in advance.
The Secretary of State's voter tools are available at sos.tn.gov.
The Muletown Journal will publish a full candidate guide for the 5th District congressional race before August 6. If you have questions you want us to put to the candidates, email [email protected].