Tennessee's 9th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its ...

. 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.

Current boundaries

Beginning in 2023, The district is located within Tipton County, and Shelby County, where the city of Memphis is located. It begins north on the border with Lauderdale County and encompasses some of Covington. 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 Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * G ...

. The district is bounded on the west and south by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

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 FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

. 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 Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, t ...

, and barbecue. It is the only majority minority congressional district in Tennessee. Politically speaking, the 9th is the most Democratic-leaning district in Tennessee. 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 Dan Heflin Kuykendall (July 9, 1924 – June 12, 2008) was an American politician and businessman who served as a United States Representative from Tennessee's 8th and 9th congressional districts from 1967 until 1975. A member of the Repub ...

Election results from presidential races

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 "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

" 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

. In 1974, in the midst of

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

, Kuykendall supported Nixon throughout the scandal. He was subsequently defeated in election by Democrat

Harold Ford Sr. Harold Eugene Ford Sr. (born May 20, 1945) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives representing the area of Memphis, Tennessee, for 11 terms—from 1975 until his retirement in 1997. H ...

, whose

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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. Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party f ...

- 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. 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

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Historical district boundaries

References

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Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
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