Tennessee's 9th congressional district

Tennessee's 9th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative	Steve Cohen D–Memphis
Distribution	98.54% urban[1] 1.46% rural
Population (2022)	756,975[2]
Median household income	$53,183[3]
Ethnicity	60.2% Black 25.2% White 9.2% Hispanic 2.8% Two or more races 2.0% Asian 0.6% other
Cook PVI	D+22[4]

Tennessee's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007.

The district was re-created as a result of the redistricting cycle after the 1980 census. The district is almost exclusively urban, due to its mostly cohabitant nature with Memphis.

Memphis is recognized worldwide for being the hub for FedEx. Largely due to FedEx's presence, Memphis International Airport handles more cargo than any other airport in the country. Memphis is also known for blues music, Beale Street, and barbecue.

It is the only majority minority congressional district in Tennessee. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+22, it is the only Democratic district in Tennessee.^[4] Since 1875, the area has sent mostly Democrats to Congress with the exception of a brief period from 1967 to 1974 when it was represented by Republican Dan Kuykendall.

Current boundaries

Beginning in 2023, the district covers most of Shelby County, where the city of Memphis is located. It also includes just under half of Tipton County.

It begins north on the border with Lauderdale County and encompasses part of Covington. It then travels south to the district's anchor city of Memphis. Nearly all of Memphis is in the 9th, although most of the city's eastern portion spills over into the 8th. The district then juts out east to grab Cordova, but mostly avoids Bartlett and Germantown. The district is bounded on the west and south by Arkansas and Mississippi respectively.

Election results from statewide races

Results under old lines (2013-2023)

History

Arguably, the district's current characteristics began to take shape in 1925 — the first year a congressional district consisted exclusively of Shelby County.

A congressional district was perfectly coextensive with Shelby County from 1925 until 1966, numbered as the 10th from 1925 to 1933 and from 1943 to 1953, then the 9th from 1933 to 1943 and the 9th from 1953 to 1966.

In 1966, the Supreme Court case Baker v. Carr took effect. In that ruling, the court laid out a "one man, one vote" standard. Prior to 1966, the 9th was nearly ten times larger in population than the nearby 7th and 8th.

1967 was the first year where the district covered merely a fraction of Shelby County rather than the county's entirety. In that election, the district chose former US Senate Republican nominee Dan Kuykendall. The district was renumbered the 8th in 1973 and was pushed further into Memphis. In 1974, in the midst of Watergate, Kuykendall supported Nixon throughout the scandal, and was subsequently defeated by Democrat Harold Ford Sr., whose family had strong political ties in Memphis dating back to at least the 1920s.

The district has voted Democratic in every congressional race since 1974. The Democrats consolidated their hold on the seat when the 1980 census saw it become the 9th once again. Since then, it has been drawn as a black-majority district.

Ford served in Congress for 22 years, when he was replaced by his son — Harold Ford Jr. — in 1997. The younger Ford served for ten years, until he mounted an unsuccessful bid for US Senate. Concurrent to Ford's senate bid, the district chose state senator Steve Cohen over Ford's brother Jake.^[5] Cohen is noted for being Tennessee's first Jewish congressman, and has been elected seven times for a little over fourteen years in Congress.

List of members representing the district

Name	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District established March 4, 1823
Adam R. Alexander (Jackson)	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th	Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Lost re-election.
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
Davy Crockett (Crockett)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829	20th 21st	Elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Lost re-election.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831
William Fitzgerald (Dresden)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833	22nd	Elected in 1831. Redistricted to the 12th district and lost re-election.
James K. Polk (Columbia)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	23rd 24th 25th	Redistricted from the Re-elected in 1837. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee .
	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839
Harvey M. Watterson (Shelbyville )	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	26th 27th	Re-elected in 1841 . Retired.
Cave Johnson (Clarksville)	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	Redistricted from the re-elected in 1843 . Retired.
Lucien B. Chase (Clarksville)	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849	29th 30th	Re-elected in 1847 . Retired.
Isham G. Harris (Paris)	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	31st 32nd	Re-elected in 1851 . Retired.
Emerson Etheridge (Dresden)	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd 34th	Re-elected in 1855 . Lost re-election.
	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857
John D. C. Atkins (Paris )	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	35th	Elected in 1857 . Lost re-election.
Emerson Etheridge (Dresden)	Opposition	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	Elected in 1859. Retired after West Tennessee seceded.
District inactive		March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863	37th	Civil War
District dissolved March 4, 1863
District re-established March 4, 1873
Barbour Lewis (Memphis)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872. Redistricted to the 10th district and lost re-election.
William P. Caldwell (Gardner)	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879	44th 45th	Re-elected in 1876 . Retired.
Charles B. Simonton (Covington )	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883	46th 47th	Re-elected in 1880 . Retired.
Rice A. Pierce (Union City)	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	48th	Elected in 1882 . Lost renomination.
Presley T. Glass (Ripley)	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889	49th 50th	Re-elected in 1886 . Lost renomination.
Rice A. Pierce (Union City)	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1893	51st 52nd	Re-elected in 1890. Lost re-election as an Independent Democrat .
James C. McDearmon (Trenton)	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	Re-elected in 1894 . Lost renomination.
Rice A. Pierce (Union City)	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1905	55th 56th 57th 58th	Re-elected in 1902 . Lost renomination.
Finis J. Garrett (Dresden)	Democratic	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1929	59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th	Re-elected in 1926. Retired to run for U.S. senator .
Jere Cooper (Dyersburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1929 – March 3, 1933	71st 72nd	Re-elected in 1930. Redistricted to the 8th district .
E.H. Crump (Memphis )	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	Redistricted from the re-elected in 1932 . Retired.
Clift Chandler (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 2, 1940	74th 75th 76th	Mayor of Memphis .
Vacant		January 2, 1940 – February 15, 1940	76th
Clifford Davis (Memphis)	Democratic	February 15, 1940 – January 3, 1943	76th 77th	Re-elected in 1940. Redistricted to the 10th district .
Jere Cooper (Dyersburg)	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1953	78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd	Redistricted from the Re-elected in 1950. Redistricted to the 8th district .
Clifford Davis (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1965	83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th	Redistricted from the Re-elected in 1962 . Lost renomination.
George Grider (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	89th	Elected in 1964 . Lost re-election.
Dan Kuykendall (Memphis)	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973	90th 91st 92nd	Re-elected in 1970. Redistricted to the 8th district .
District dissolved January 3, 1973
District re-established January 3, 1983
Harold Ford Sr. (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1997	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th	Redistricted from the Re-elected in 1994 . Retired.
Harold Ford Jr. (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2007	105th 106th 107th 108th 109th	Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Retired to run for U.S. senator .
Steve Cohen (Memphis)	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – present	110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th 118th	Elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022.

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Historical district boundaries

See also

• Tennessee's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

35°10′00″N 89°58′39″W / 35.16667°N 89.97750°W / 35.16667; -89.97750