Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) announced Friday that he is suspending his reelection campaign, ending a nearly two-decade run in Congress after Tennessee Republicans redrew his Memphis-based district into a seat that now heavily favors the GOP.
Cohen, who has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District since 2007, said he signed paperwork requesting that his name not appear on the ballot for the August 6 Democratic primary. The 76-year-old congressman said the newly redrawn district is “nothing like the 9th district that I’ve represented,” signaling that the GOP’s recent redistricting push had effectively ended his path to reelection.
BREAKING: Democrat Rep Steve Cohen ends reelection bid following the passing of Tennessee’s new Congressional map which eliminated his district pic.twitter.com/9ZVAsPoB73
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The Tennessee legislature, controlled by Republicans, approved a new congressional map last week that dramatically altered the longtime Democratic stronghold centered in Memphis. The new 9th District stretches beyond Memphis into more rural areas of southern Tennessee, and transforms what had been a majority-black Democratic seat into one that is expected to go to the Republicans in November. The new district would’ve been a Trump +21 in the 2024 election.
Cohen, Tennessee’s only Democrat in Congress, called the decision the most difficult moment of his political career. He said he considered running in one of the new districts but ultimately decided against it, arguing that the redrawn lines erased the constituency he had represented for nearly 20 years. A fourth-generation Memphis resident, Cohen had long been a fixture in city politics before coming to Congress, and his exit marks a major generational shift for Democrats in west Tennessee, who now face an uphill battle to hold a seat that was once considered safely theirs.
His departure opens up a crowded Democratic primary. Still running for the nomination are Justin Pearson, the left-wing state lawmaker who rose to national prominence after his expulsion and reinstatement fight in the state House; M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams; and community organizer DeVante Hill, who has been associated with Black Lives Matter organizing efforts in Memphis.
On the Republican side, Charlotte Bergmann and Kevin Young are competing in the GOP primary as Republicans eye a rare pickup opportunity in a district Democrats have held for decades. The reshaped district could become one of the clearest examples yet of how aggressive mid-decade redistricting is already reshuffling the 2026 House map, particularly in states where lawmakers moved quickly after recent court rulings opened the door to redrawing seats previously protected under Voting Rights Act precedent.
Friday is the final day for candidates to file for the race, with the deadline extended due to the redistricting overhaul.
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