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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 (2021)	790,094[2]
Median household income	$65,307[3]
Ethnicity	60.3% White 25.0% Black 9.1% Hispanic 3.1% Asian 2.0% Two or more races 0.5% other
Cook PVI	D+9[4]

Current boundaries

The district is located slightly northwest of the state's geographical center. It currently includes all 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.

However, following the 2020 House Redistricting Cycle, the 5th District will comprise a southern portion of Davidson County, include portions of Wilson and Williamson Counties, as well as the entirety of Maury, Lewis, and Marshall Counties.[5] This was done in an effort to flip the seat Republican (according to liberals) by dividing Democratic-heavy Nashville into three congressional districts.[6]

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".[7]

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.[8] However, due to alleged gerrymandering by the GOP, the capital city has been split into 3 different districts following the 2020 census,[9] turning the 5th from a Democratic stronghold into leaning Republican.

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.[10]

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,[11] 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.[12]

Richard "Dick" Fulton represented the 5th from 1963 until August 1975, when he 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 1970s, 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 only Davidson County from 1943 to 1972.)[10]

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 (November 1975 - June 1978) before he died in office due to complications from a heart attack suffered a month earlier.[13]

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 served seven terms in Congress, where he represented Davidson and Robertson counties. He was one of the 81 Democratic congressmen who voted for the Iraq Resolution of 2002.[14]

Clement did not run for re-election in 2002, as he was running for the open U.S. 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.[15] 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.[16] As of spring 2021, he is in his tenth 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 (Nashville)	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 (Williamson County)	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 (Nashville)	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819	15th	Elected in 1817. Retired.
Newton Cannon (Williamson County)	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823	16th 17th	Elected in 1819. Re-elected in 1821. Retired.
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. Retired.	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	Elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Retired.
William Hall (Sumner County)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833	22nd	Elected in 1831. Retired.
John B. Forester (McMinnville)	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd 24th	Elected in 1833. Re-elected in 1835. Retired.	1833–1843 [data unknown/missing]
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837
Hopkins L. Turney (Winchester)	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843	25th 26th 27th	Elected in 1837. Re-elected in 1839. Re-elected in 1841. Retired.
George Washington Jones (Fayetteville)	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1853	28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd	Elected in 1843. Re-elected in 1845. Re-elected in 1847. Re-elected in 1849. Re-elected in 1851. Redistricted to the 6th district.	1843–1853 [data unknown/missing]
Charles Ready (Murfreesboro)	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd 34th 35th	Elected in 1853. Re-elected in 1855. Re-elected in 1857. Lost re-election.	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	Elected in 1859. Retired to join the Confederate Army.
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	Elected in 1865. Retired.
	John Trimble (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th	Elected in 1867. Retired.
	William F. Prosser (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	Elected in 1868. Lost re-election.
	Edward I. Golladay (Lebanon)	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	Elected in 1870. Lost re-election.
Horace Harrison (Nashville)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872. Redistricted to the 6th district and lost re-election.	1873–1883 [data unknown/missing]
John M. Bright (Fayetteville)	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881	44th 45th 46th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1874. Re-elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Lost re-election as an Independent Democrat.
Richard Warner (Lewisburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1885	47th 48th	Elected in 1880. Re-elected in 1882. Lost renomination.
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	Elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Retired.
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	Elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Retired.
1913–1923 [data unknown/missing]
	Ewin L. Davis (Tullahoma)	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933	66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost renomination.
1923–1933 [data unknown/missing]
Jo Byrns (Nashville)	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – June 4, 1936	73rd 74th	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. 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	Elected in 1936. Lost renomination.
Jo Byrns Jr. (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	76th	Elected in 1938. Lost re-election.
Percy Priest (Nashville)	Independent Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th	Elected in 1940. Redistricted to the 6th district.
Jim Nance McCord (Lewisburg)	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	78th	Elected in 1942. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee.	1943–1953 [data unknown/missing]
Harold Earthman (Murfreesboro)	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th	Elected in 1944. Lost renomination.
Joe L. Evins (Smithville)	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953	80th 81st 82nd	Elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Redistricted to the 4th district.
Percy Priest (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – October 12, 1956	83rd 84th	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. 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	Elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Lost renomination.
Richard Fulton (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – August 14, 1975	88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th	Elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. 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. Re-elected in 1976. Died.
	Vacant		June 18, 1978 – January 3, 1979	95th
	Bill Boner (Nashville)	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – October 5, 1987	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th	Elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Resigned to become Mayor of Nashville.
1983–1993 [data unknown/missing]
	Vacant		October 5, 1987 – January 19, 1988	100th
	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 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. Retiring at the end of term.	2003–Present Davidson County, Dickson, and Cheatham counties.
Andy Ogles (Culleoka)	Republican	January 3, 2023 –	118th	Elected in 2022.

Recent election results

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 1998: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Clement	74,611	82.8	+10.42
	Independent	William Lancaster	6,162	6.84	N/A
	Independent	Al Borgman	4,983	5.53	N/A
	Independent	Gary Worden	4,345	4.82	N/A

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2000: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Clement (incumbent)	149,277	72.5	-10.3
	Republican	Stan Scott	50,386	24.5	+24.5
	Independent	David Carew	6,268	3.0	N/A

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

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper (incumbent)	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

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:

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2020: District 5

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	252,155	100.0	+32.16
	Write-in		14	0.0

Source:

See also

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

Notes

References

• 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

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Illinois's 20th congressional district	Home district of the Speaker of the House January 3, 1935 – June 4, 1936	Succeeded by Alabama's 7th congressional district

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