Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is ending his re-election campaign after Tennessee Republicans approved President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting plan.
The new congressional map splits Cohen’s home city of Memphis into three districts. Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which Cohen has represented for nearly two decades, now stretches 300 miles from Memphis to the edge of Nashville.
The Tennessee Democratic Party is suing to block the redistricting plan on behalf of Cohen and other candidates, but a federal judge has allowed the maps to go into effect while multiple legal challenges go forward.
Cohen has said he would rejoin the race if the map were struck down in court. State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have joined the race ahead of Friday’s filing deadline, hoping to take his spot in Washington.
Candidates had a little over a week to pursue a spot on the ballot after the state approved the new map.
9th Congressional District
Tennessee Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, joined the 9th District race quickly, having indicated his intent to run by declaring that he had a conflict of interest during the special session on redistricting. State Rep. Todd Warner, R-Lewisburg, did not declare a conflict of interest, but has also thrown his hat in the ring for the seat.
State Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, who once interned for Cohen, is also running. Lamar, like other Memphis Democrats, has argued the new maps dilute Black voting power.
“I’m ready to fight,” Lamar said. “We are going to stop this, but we need everybody to pay attention. We need everybody to register to vote. We need everybody to get involved because they are banking on us to stay dormant.”
Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, had already been running against Cohen before redistricting. He’s criticized Democrats who are joining now, arguing that they should be banding together in this moment.
Marianna Bacallao WPLN NewsTennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, looks on as his then-primary opponent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen speaks at a protest against redistricting.
5th Congressional District
In the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, the Democratic National Convention had invested heavily in Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder’s campaign to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Rep Andy Ogles. The new map takes Columbia out of the 5th District entirely, but Molder has relaunched his campaign under new state rules that temporarily waive the residency requirement for the updated congressional districts.
7th Congressional District
In the 7th Congressional District, Joshua Warren Sales had been the lone Democratic candidate against incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps, whose narrow victory in the special congressional election last year indicated a shift in the district’s political priorities. His opponent last December, state Rep. Aftyn. Behn, D-Nashville, had decided not to run again, saying her and her family had received death threats.
Now, Democrats who ran against Behn in the special congressional primaries are relaunching campaigns for the district, including state Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville, and Nashville businessman Darden Copeland. Saletta Holloway has also entered the race as a newcomer.
6th Congressional District
Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry had announced her candidacy for the 6th District but decided against running a day later. Disability rights activist Lore Bergman is running again, having lost to Republican U.S. Rep. John Rose in the 2024 election. She’s joined in the Democratic primaries by challengers across the district, from Nashville to Crossville.
Rose isn’t in the running for Congress this year as he launches a gubernatorial campaign against Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn. State Rep. Johnny Garrett, R-Goodlettsville, is against three other Republicans in the 6th District primary.
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