Tennessee's 9th congressional district

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

Tennessee's 9th congressional district
Tennessee's 9th congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative
  Steve Cohen
DMemphis
Distribution
  • 98.54% urban[1]
  • 1.46% rural
Population (2019)700,497[2]
Median household
income
$43,708[3]
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+28[4]

Current Boundaries

The district is located entirely within Shelby County, where the city of Memphis is located.

It begins north on the border with Tipton County and encompasses most of Millington. It then travels south to the district's anchor city of Memphis. Nearly all of Memphis is in the 9th, although some of its city limits spill over into the 8th. The district then juts out east to capture Cordova, but mostly avoids Bartlett and Germantown.

The district is bounded on the west and south by Arkansas and Mississippi respectively.

Characteristics

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 boasts 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.

Politically speaking, it is considered a very safe area for Democrats. 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.

Election results from presidential races

Year Office Result
2000 President Al Gore 63% - George W. Bush 36%
2004 President John Kerry 70% - George W. Bush 30%
2008 President Barack Obama 77% - John McCain 22.5%
2012 President Barack Obama 78.4% - Mitt Romney 21%
2016 President Hillary Clinton 77.5% - Donald Trump 19.8%
2020 President Joe Biden 78.5% - Donald Trump 19.9%

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, when 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 was 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.

In 1974, in the midst of Watergate, Kuykendall supported Nixon throughout the scandal. He was subsequently defeated in election by Democrat Harold Ford Sr., whose family had strong political ties in Memphis dating back to at least the 1920s.

The district has swung Democrat in every congressional race since 1974.

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. Cohen 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 created March 4, 1823
Adam R. Alexander Democratic-Republican March 4, 1823 –
March 3, 1825
18th
19th
Elected in 1823.
Re-elected in 1825.
[data unknown/missing]
Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –
March 3, 1827

Davy Crockett
Jacksonian March 4, 1827 –
March 3, 1829
20th
21st
Elected in 1827.
Re-elected in 1829.
[data unknown/missing]
Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1829 –
March 3, 1831
William Fitzgerald Jacksonian March 4, 1831 –
March 3, 1833
22nd [data unknown/missing]

James K. Polk
Jacksonian March 4, 1833 –
March 3, 1837
23rd
24th
25th
Redistricted from the 6th district.
[data unknown/missing]
Democratic March 4, 1837 –
March 3, 1839
Harvey M. Watterson Democratic March 4, 1839 –
March 3, 1843
26th
27th
[data unknown/missing]

Cave Johnson
Democratic March 4, 1843 –
March 3, 1845
28th Redistricted from the 11th district.
[data unknown/missing]
Lucien B. Chase Democratic March 4, 1845 –
March 3, 1849
29th
30th
[data unknown/missing]

Isham G. Harris
Democratic March 4, 1849 –
March 3, 1853
31st
32nd
[data unknown/missing]

Emerson Etheridge
Whig March 4, 1853 –
March 3, 1855
33rd
34th
[data unknown/missing]
Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –
March 3, 1857
[data unknown/missing]

John D. C. Atkins
Democratic March 4, 1857 –
March 3, 1859
35th [data unknown/missing]

Emerson Etheridge
Opposition March 4, 1859 –
March 3, 1861
36th [data unknown/missing]
Retired.
Vacant March 4, 1861 –
March 3, 1863
37th American Civil War: No members elected
District eliminated March 4, 1863
District re-established March 4, 1873

Barbour Lewis
Republican March 4, 1873 –
March 3, 1875
43rd [data unknown/missing]

William P. Caldwell
Democratic March 4, 1875 –
March 3, 1879
44th
45th
[data unknown/missing]

Charles B. Simonton
Democratic March 4, 1879 –
March 3, 1883
46th
47th
[data unknown/missing]

Rice A. Pierce
Democratic March 4, 1883 –
March 3, 1885
48th [data unknown/missing]

Presley T. Glass
Democratic March 4, 1885 –
March 3, 1889
49th
50th
[data unknown/missing]

Rice A. Pierce
Democratic March 4, 1889 –
March 3, 1893
51st
52nd
[data unknown/missing]

James C. McDearmon
Democratic March 4, 1893 –
March 3, 1897
53rd
54th
[data unknown/missing]

Rice A. Pierce
Democratic March 4, 1897 –
March 3, 1905
55th
56th
57th
58th
[data unknown/missing]

Finis J. Garrett
Democratic March 4, 1905 –
March 3, 1929
59th
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th
65th
66th
67th
68th
69th
70th
[data unknown/missing]

Jere Cooper
Democratic March 4, 1929 –
March 3, 1933
71st
72nd
[data unknown/missing]
Redistricted to the 8th district.

E.H. Crump
Democratic March 4, 1933 –
January 3, 1935
73rd Redistricted from the 10th district.
[data unknown/missing]

Clift Chandler
Democratic January 3, 1935 –
January 2, 1940
74th
75th
76th
[data unknown/missing]
Resigned when elected Mayor of Memphis

Clifford Davis
Democratic February 14, 1940 –
January 3, 1943
76th
77th
[data unknown/missing]
Redistricted to the 10th district.

Jere Cooper
Democratic January 3, 1943 –
January 3, 1953
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
Redistricted from the 8th district.
Redistricted to the 8th district.

Clifford Davis
Democratic January 3, 1953 –
January 3, 1965
83rd
84th
85th
86th
87th
88th
Redistricted from the 10th district.
[data unknown/missing]

George Grider
Democratic January 3, 1965 –
January 3, 1967
89th [data unknown/missing]

Dan Kuykendall
Republican January 3, 1967 –
January 3, 1973
90th
91st
92nd
[data unknown/missing]
Redistricted to the 8th district.
District eliminated January 3, 1973
District re-established January 3, 1983

Harold E. Ford
Democratic January 3, 1983 –
January 3, 1997
98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd
103rd
104th
Redistricted from the 8th district.
[data unknown/missing]

Harold E. Ford Jr.
Democratic January 3, 1997 –
January 3, 2007
105th
106th
107th
108th
109th
[data unknown/missing]

Steve Cohen
Democratic January 3, 2007 –
present
110th
111th
112th
113th
114th
115th
116th
117th
Elected in 2006.

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

References

  1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov.
  2. Bureau, Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
  3. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=09
  4. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  5. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/TN/H/09/index.html

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