As state senator, Brent Taylor passed laws superseding the will of Memphis voters. Now he wants to represent them

Published October 28, 2026 6:00AM (EDT)

An attendee confronts Tennessee State Sen. Brent Taylor, center left, during a public comment meeting hosted by the Shelby County Health Department at Fairley High School on xAI’s permit application to use gas turbines for a new data center in Memphis, TN on April 25, 2025. (Photo by Brandon Dill for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

This article originally appeared on ProPublica .

Not two weeks after the Tennessee legislature carved Memphis into three congressional districts this spring, in a move designed to eliminate Democratic representation, Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor made his electoral expectations clear in a photo posted on social media.

Taylor and U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a fellow Republican, sat side by side on the U.S. Capitol steps.…