Tennessee's 5th congressional district

The 5th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Democrat Jim Cooper since January 2003.

Tennessee's 5th congressional district
Tennessee's 5th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Jim Cooper D–Nashville
Distribution	88.68% urban[1] 11.32% rural
Population (2019)	778,094[2]
Median household income	$63,295[3]
Ethnicity	67.62% White 24.85% Black 9.4% Hispanic 3.45% Asian 0.25% Native American
Cook PVI	D+7[4]

Current boundaries

The district is located slightly northwest of the state's geographical center. It is currently composed of Davidson and Dickson counties, as well as most of Cheatham County. It is the only Tennessee congressional district which does not border another state.

Characteristics

The fifth district is nearly synonymous with Tennessee's capital city, Nashville, as the district has almost always been centered on Nashville throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home to numerous colleges and universities (its old nickname was "the Athens of the South"). It is also home to the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, earning it the nickname "Music City".[5]

The district stretches west of Nashville, and into Cheatham and Dickson counties, which are far less suburbanized than the communities to the south and east of Nashville.

Political characteristics

The 5th is historically a very safe seat for the Democratic Party, due almost entirely to the influence of heavily Democratic Nashville. Some pockets of Republican influence exist in Belle Meade, and portions of neighboring Cheatham County, as well as Dickson County. However, they are no match for the overwhelming Democratic trend in most of Nashville.

No Republican has represented Nashville in Congress since Horace Harrison in 1875.[6]

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	Al Gore 57% - George W. Bush 42%
2004	President	John Kerry 52% - George W. Bush 48%
2008	President	Barack Obama 57.5% - John McCain 41.3%
2012	President	Barack Obama 56% - Mitt Romney 42.5%
2016	President	Hillary Clinton 56.5% - Donald Trump 38.2%
2020	President	Joe Biden 60.3% - Donald Trump 36.7%

History

Following the 1950 census, Tennessee expanded briefly to ten districts. Even though it has since contracted back to nine districts, that marked the beginning of the continuous period where the 5th district was centered on Davidson County/Nashville.[7]

From 1941 to 1957, Nashville was represented by J. Percy Priest, who was the House majority whip in the 81st and 82nd Congresses. A dam in eastern Davidson County and the lake formed by the dam are both named in his memory.

Priest died just before the Election of 1956,[8] and the Democrats turned to Carlton Loser. Loser won that election, and then to two more Congresses after that. Loser appeared to win another Democratic nomination in 1962, but his primary came under investigation for voter fraud, and a court ordered a new election. In this new election, Loser was defeated by former state senator Richard Fulton.[9]

Richard "Dick" Fulton represented the 5th from 1963 until 1977, when retired from Congress to become the second mayor of metropolitan Nashville.

Following the 1970 census, while Fulton was representing the district, Tennessee briefly contracted to eight congressional districts. During the 70s, the district encompassed Davidson, Cheatham, and Robertson counties. This contraction of congressional districts forced the first time in thirty years where Davidson County was not the sole county in the district. (The fifth was Davidson County and only Davidson County from 1943 to 1972.)[7]

Once Fulton was Nashville mayor, he was succeeded in Congress by former state senator Clifford Allen. Allen served for only a term and a half (Nov.1975- Jun.1978) before he died in office due to complications from a heart attack he'd suffered a month earlier.[10]

In the election of 1978, the fifth district selected state senator Bill Boner. He served in Congress for ten years, and then succeeded Fulton as mayor of Nashville.

Boner was succeeded in 1988 by Bob Clement, former president of Cumberland University and son of former governor Frank G. Clement. Clement ended up serving seven terms in Congress, where he served Davidson and Robertson counties. He was one of the 81 Democratic congressmen who voted for the Iraq Resolution of 2002.[11]

Clement did not run for re-election in 2002, as he was running for the open US Senate seat left by retiring Fred Thompson. He won the Democratic nomination easily, but was defeated in the general election by former governor Lamar Alexander.[12] Clement was succeeded in Congress by Jim Cooper, who, like Clement, was also the son of a former governor.

Jim Cooper is considered a blue dog Democrat. According to On The Issues, he is deemed "moderate", but is slightly to the left of the political center.[13] As of summer 2019, he is in his ninth term in Congress.

List of members representing the district

Member (Residence)	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
District created March 4, 1813
Felix Grundy ([data unknown/missing])	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1813 – July 1814	13th	Redistricted from the 3rd district and re-elected in 1813. Resigned.	1813–1823 Bedford, Davidson, Lincoln, Rutherford, and Williamson counties
Vacant		July 1814 – September 16, 1814
Newton Cannon ([data unknown/missing])	Democratic-Republican	September 16, 1814 – March 3, 1817	13th 14th	Elected to finish Grundy's term. Re-elected in 1815. Lost re-election.
Thomas Claiborne ([data unknown/missing])	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819	15th	Elected in 1817. [data unknown/missing]
Newton Cannon ([data unknown/missing])	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823	16th 17th	[data unknown/missing]
Robert Allen (Carthage)	Democratic-Republican[lower-alpha 1]	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. [data unknown/missing]	1823–1833 Smith, Sumner, and Wilson counties
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
Robert Desha (Gallatin)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831	20th 21st	[data unknown/missing]
William Hall (Sumner County)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833	22nd	[data unknown/missing]
John B. Forester ([data unknown/missing])	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd 24th	[data unknown/missing]	1833–1843 [data unknown/missing]
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837		[data unknown/missing]
Hopkins L. Turney (Winchester)	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843	25th 26th 27th	[data unknown/missing]
George Washington Jones (Fayetteville)	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1853	28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 6th district.	1843–1853 [data unknown/missing]
Charles Ready (Murfreesboro)	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd 34th 35th	[data unknown/missing]	1853–1863 [data unknown/missing]
	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859
Robert H. Hatton (Lebanon)	Opposition	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	[data unknown/missing]
Vacant		March 3, 1861 – July 24, 1866	37th 38th 39th	American Civil War
1863–1873 [data unknown/missing]
	William B. Campbell (Wilson County)	Unionist	July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867	39th	[data unknown/missing]
	John Trimble (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th	[data unknown/missing]
	William F. Prosser (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing]
	Edward I. Golladay (Lebanon)	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	[data unknown/missing]
Horace Harrison (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	[data unknown/missing]	1873–1883 [data unknown/missing]
John M. Bright (Fayetteville)	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881	44th 45th 46th	Redistricted from the 4th district. [data unknown/missing]
Richard Warner (Lewisburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1885	47th 48th	[data unknown/missing]
1883–1893 [data unknown/missing]
	James D. Richardson (Murfreesboro)	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1905	49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th 58th	[data unknown/missing]
1893–1903 [data unknown/missing]
1903–1913 [data unknown/missing]
	William C. Houston (Woodbury)	Democratic	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1919	59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th	[data unknown/missing]
1913–1923 [data unknown/missing]
	Ewin L. Davis (Tullahoma)	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933	66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	[data unknown/missing]
1923–1933 [data unknown/missing]
Jo Byrns (Nashville)	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – June 4, 1936	73rd 74th	Redistricted from the 6th district. Died.	1933–1943 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		June 4, 1936 – January 3, 1937	74th
Richard M. Atkinson (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939	75th	[data unknown/missing]
Jo Byrns Jr. (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	76th	[data unknown/missing]
Percy Priest (Nashville)	Independent Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 6th district.
Jim Nance McCord (Lewisburg)	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	78th	[data unknown/missing]	1943–1953 [data unknown/missing]
Harold Earthman (Murfreesboro)	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th	[data unknown/missing]
Joe L. Evins (Smithville)	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953	80th 81st 82nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 4th district.
Percy Priest (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – October 12, 1956	83rd 84th	Redistricted from the 6th district. Died.	1953–1963 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		October 12, 1956 – January 3, 1957	84th
J. Carlton Loser (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1963	85th 86th 87th	[data unknown/missing]
Richard Fulton (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – August 14, 1975	88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Mayor of Nashville.	1963–1973 [data unknown/missing]
1973–1983 [data unknown/missing]
	Vacant		August 14, 1975 – November 25, 1975	94th
	Clifford Allen (Nashville)	Democratic	November 25, 1975 – June 18, 1978	94th 95th	Elected to finish Fulton's term. Died.
	Vacant		June 18, 1978 – January 3, 1979	95th
	Bill Boner (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – October 5, 1987	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Mayor of Nashville.
1983–1993 [data unknown/missing]
	Bob Clement (Nashville)	Democratic	January 19, 1988 – January 3, 2003	100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	Elected to finish Boner's term. Re-elected later in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
1993–2003 [data unknown/missing]
Jim Cooper (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – Present	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-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.	2003–Present Davidson County, Dickson, and Cheatham counties.

Recent election results

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2004: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	168,970	69.3	+5.5
	Republican	Scott Knapp	74,978	30.7	-2.5
	Write-in candidate	Thomas F. Kovach	15	0.0

Source: Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 2004

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2006: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	122,919	69.0	-0.3
	Republican	Thomas F. Kovach	49,702	27.9	-2.8
	Independent	Ginny Welsch	3,766	2.1
	Independent	Scott Knapp	1,755	1.0

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2008: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	181,467	65.8	-3.2
	Republican	Gerard Donovan	85,471	31.0	+3.1
	Independent	Jon Jackson	5,464	2.0
	Green	John Miglietta	3,196	1.2
	Write-in candidate	Thomas F. Kovach	4	0.0

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	99,162	56.2	-9.6
	Republican	David Hall	74,204	42.1	+11.1
	Libertarian	Stephen Collings	584	.3
	Independent	John "Big John" Smith	533	.3
	Independent	Jackie Miller	444	.3
	Green	John Miglietta	396	.2	-1
	Independent	Bill Crook	391	.2
	Independent	James Whitfield	333	.2
	Independent	Joe Moore	159	.1
	Independent	Clark Taylor	156	.1

Source: TN Department of State

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2012: District 5 (Unofficial)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	171,358	65.22	+9.0
	Republican	Brad Staats	86,153	32.79	-9.3
	Green	John Miglietta	5,208	1.98	+1.8

Source: TN Department of State

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2014: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	96,148	62.32	-2.9
	Republican	Bob Ries	55,078	35.70	+2.91
	Independent	Paul Deakin	9,634	6.24	+6.2

Source:

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2016: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	171,111	62.55	+0.23
	Republican	Stacy Ries Snyder	102,433	37.44	+1.74

Source:

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2018: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	177,923	67.84	+5.29
	Republican	Jody M. Ball	84,317	32.15	-5.29

Source:

See also

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

Notes

1. Supported the Jackson faction in the 1824 United States presidential election

References

1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
2. Bureau, Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
3. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=05
4. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20010707123558/http://www.bmi.com/library/brochures/historybook/musiccity.asp
6. "Horace Harrison HARRISON". InfoPlease. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
7. "JeffreyBLewis/congressional-district-boundaries". GitHub. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
8. "J. PERCY PRIEST, 56, LEGISLATOR, DEAD; Tennessee Representative 16 Years, Ex-Democratic Whip, Was Commerce Chairman Was Teacher and Coach". 13 October 1956. Retrieved 10 April 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
9. http://www.thenashvillebanner.com/politics/2015/01/14/it-starts-with-richard-fulton.1311947%5B%5D
10. "Observer-Reporter - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
11. "H.J.Res. 114 (107th): Authorization for Use of Military Force Against ... -- House Vote #455 -- Oct 10, 2002". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
12. "Our Campaigns - TN US Senate Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
13. OnTheIssues.org. "Jim Cooper on the Issues". house.ontheissues.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

• 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
• November 7, 2006 General Election Official Returns (Accessed 2006-12-11)

External links

• House of Representatives member information, via Clerk of the United States House of Representatives