The move comes after the GOP state legislature split up his district in a redistricting move that some Democrats called “racist.”
Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee has announced that he will be dropping his reelection bid after representing the state's 9th Congressional District for over 19 years. The move comes after the GOP state legislature split up his district in a redistricting move that some have claimed to be "racist."
The congressman said that the district with "new lines" is "nothing like the 9th district that I've represented." He said that he will also be retiring from public life.
"I've had the great honor to represent the ninth district for the last 19 and a half years. And it's been a district that is a majority African-American district," he said in a press conference, per CBS News.
https://twitter.com/RepCohen/status/2052481665080213523
Cohen said after the map was passed, “And just like that, the TN GOP voted to enforce a racial gerrymander of Memphis and strip our city of effective representation for decades."
The vote to redistrict Tennessee split up the 9th district centered in the Memphis area. The map redraw effort split the area into three parts that will likely flip the seat held by Cohen to be Republican in the upcoming midterm elections.
During his time in Congress, Cohen has been on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Transportation, and the House Judiciary Committee.
The redistricting effort in Tennessee pushed by the GOP is part of an ongoing back-and-forth between and Democrat and Republican-controlled states in an attempt to redraw congressional districts in an effort to gain more seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
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