Tennessee's 5th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 6 Democratic primary)

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Tennessee's 5th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 10, 2026
Primary: August 6, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

Varies by county
Voting in Tennessee

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Likely Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Tennessee's 5th Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th
Tennessee elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Democratic Party primary takes place on August 6, 2026, in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 10, 2026
August 6, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Tennessee utilizes a closed primary process; a voter must either be registered with a political party or must declare his or affiliation with the party at the polls on primary election day in order to vote in that party's primary.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Tennessee's 5th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 5

Mike Cortese, Chaz Molder, Joyce Neal, Diana Onyejiaka, and James Torino are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 5 on August 6, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Mike Cortese
Mike Cortese
Image of Chaz Molder
Chaz Molder
Image of Joyce Neal
Joyce Neal Candidate Connection
Image of Diana Onyejiaka
Diana Onyejiaka
Image of James Torino
James Torino

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Joyce Neal

Image of Joyce Neal

FacebookX

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I was born in Omaha, NE, and raised in Clarksville, TN. I am a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I am not a politician, but I am involved in my community through numerous local organizations. I value honesty, integrity, and transparency, and I can be reached at (615) 498-7925. I served in the Army/Army Reserve and retired after a 30-year career. I was also employed by the State of Tennessee, where I managed a statewide Medicaid program. I earned my bachelor's degree in Sociology and my master's degree in General Psychology from Tennessee State University, and my Doctorate in Education from Trevecca Nazarene University. My faith and belief are in God, as he is the Judge for all humankind."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Family. Family, in my opinion, is the most significant component of our communities. Even if our family members have made poor choices, we must always stand by them.

Honesty. Even when my candor may not align with people' views or beliefs, I think they should hear the facts.

Transparency. I think it's critical to keep my doors open to my constituents. It is my mission as an elected representative to keep the people who elected me informed about every development in Congress.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Tennessee

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Mike Cortese Democratic Party $160,764 $45,131 $115,633 As of September 30, 2025
Chaz Molder Democratic Party $797,635 $33,763 $763,872 As of September 30, 2025
Joyce Neal Democratic Party $5,135 $0 $5,135 As of September 30, 2025
Diana Onyejiaka Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
James Torino Democratic Party $12,275 $8,244 $4,030 As of September 30, 2025

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Tennessee in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Tennessee, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Tennessee U.S. House All candidates 25 N/A 3/10/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ LexisNexis, "Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-115," accessed July 16, 2025


Tennessee's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Marsha Blackburn (R)
Bill Hagerty (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
John Rose (R)
District 7
District 8
District 9
Republican Party (10)
Democratic Party (1)


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