Tennessee's 9th Congressional District

Tennessee's 9th Congressional District

Incumbent

Steve Cohen

Assumed office: January 3, 2007

Tennessee's 9th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Steve Cohen (D).

As of the 2020 Census, Tennessee representatives represented an average of 768,544 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 708,381 residents.

Elections

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: United States House of Representatives election in Tennessee, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Justin Pearson (D) is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 6, 2026.

		Candidate
		Justin Pearson

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Charlotte Bergmann (R) and James New (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 6, 2026.

		Candidate
		Charlotte Bergmann
	Submit photo	James New

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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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See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Charlotte Bergmann (R), Wendell Wells (Independent), and Dennis Clark (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen (D)	71.3	159,522
		Charlotte Bergmann (R)	25.7	57,411
		Wendell Wells (Independent)	1.7	3,708
		Dennis Clark (Independent)	1.4	3,062

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 223,703
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Henry Reaves (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Corey Strong (D), M. LaTroy Williams (D), and Kasandra Smith (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 1, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen	73.7	30,042
		Corey Strong	17.8	7,258
		M. LaTroy Williams	4.7	1,936
		Kasandra Smith	3.7	1,522

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,758
= 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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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Charlotte Bergmann (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 1, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlotte Bergmann	100.0	10,148

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,148
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Antwane Bohanon (R)

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Charlotte Bergmann (R), George Flinn Jr. (Independent), Dennis Clark (Independent), and Paul Cook (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen (D)	70.0	93,800
		Charlotte Bergmann (R)	26.2	35,123
		George Flinn Jr. (Independent)	2.5	3,349
		Dennis Clark (Independent)	0.9	1,160
		Paul Cook (Independent)	0.4	485
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	1

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 133,918
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Samuel Furrh (Independence Party)
• Mark Crain (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated M. LaTroy Williams (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 4, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen	88.0	62,055
		M. LaTroy Williams	12.0	8,449

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,504
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ollie Nelson (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Charlotte Bergmann (R) defeated Brown Dudley (R) and Leo AwGoWhat (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 4, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlotte Bergmann	51.5	10,380
	Submit photo	Brown Dudley	43.5	8,760
	Submit photo	Leo AwGoWhat	5.0	1,000

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,140
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Charlotte Bergmann (R), Dennis Clark (Independent), Bobby Lyons (Independent), and Charles Shappley (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen (D)	77.4	187,905
		Charlotte Bergmann (R)	20.1	48,818
		Dennis Clark (Independent)	1.6	3,962
		Bobby Lyons (Independent)	0.9	2,192
	Submit photo	Charles Shappley (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	3

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 242,880
= 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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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Corey Strong (D) and Leo AwGoWhat (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 6, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen	84.0	56,312
		Corey Strong	14.8	9,944
	Submit photo	Leo AwGoWhat	1.1	768

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 67,024
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• M. LaTroy Williams (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Charlotte Bergmann (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 6, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlotte Bergmann	100.0	12,160

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,160
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Charles Shappley (R)

General election

General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Charlotte Bergmann (R) and Leo AwGoWhat (Independent) in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen (D)	80.0	145,139
		Charlotte Bergmann (R)	19.2	34,901
	Submit photo	Leo AwGoWhat (Independent)	0.8	1,436

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 181,476
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Nicholas Mantanona (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Kasandra Smith (D) and Isaac Richmond (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 2, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Cohen	90.9	67,433
		Kasandra Smith	6.4	4,734
		Isaac Richmond	2.7	1,976

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 74,143
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• M. LaTroy Williams (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9

Charlotte Bergmann (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 9 on August 2, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlotte Bergmann	100.0	17,971

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,971
= 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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Previous election results

2016

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Wayne Alberson (R) and Paul Cook (independent) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Cohen defeated Larry Crim, Justin Ford, and M. LaTroy Williams in the Democratic primary on August 4, 2016.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen Incumbent	78.7%	171,631
	Republican	Wayne Alberson	18.9%	41,123
	Independent	Paul Cook	2.4%	5,203
Total Votes				217,957
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Steve Cohen Incumbent	85.5%	35,645
Justin Ford	10%	4,165
LaTroy Williams	3.5%	1,452
Larry Crim	1%	406
Total Votes		41,668
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State

2014

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 9th Congressional District of Tennessee held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Steve Cohen (D) defeated Charlotte Bergmann (R), Floyd Alberson (I), Paul Cook (I) and Herbert Bass (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen Incumbent	75%	87,308
	Republican	Charlotte Bergmann	23.3%	27,163
	Independent	Floyd Alberson	0.7%	766
	Independent	Paul Cook	0.6%	751
	Independent	Herbert Bass	0.4%	483
Total Votes				116,471
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State

2012

See also: Tennessee's 9th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 9th Congressional District of Tennessee held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Steve Cohen won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen Incumbent	75.1%	188,422
	Republican	George Flinn Jr.	23.8%	59,742
	Independent	Gregory Joiner	0.5%	1,372
	Independent	Brian Saulsberry	0.6%	1,448
Total Votes				250,984
Source: Tennessee Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Steve Cohen won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Charlotte Bergmann (D), Sandra Sullivan (I) and Perry Steele (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen incumbent	74%	99,827
	Republican	Charlotte Bergmann	25.1%	33,879
	Independent	Sandra Sullivan	0.5%	673
	Independent	Perry Steele	0.4%	528
Total Votes				134,907

2008
On November 4, 2008, Steve Cohen won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jake Ford (I), Dewey Clark (I) and Mary "Taylor Shelby" Wright (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen incumbent	87.9%	198,798
	Independent	Jake Ford	4.9%	11,003
	Independent	Dewey Clark	4.4%	10,047
	Independent	Mary "Taylor Shelby" Wright	2.8%	6,434
Total Votes				226,282

2006
On November 7, 2006, Steve Cohen won election to the United States House. He defeated Mark White (R) and Jake Ford (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Cohen	59.9%	103,341
	Republican	Mark White	18%	31,002
	Independent	Jake Ford	22.2%	38,243
Total Votes				172,586

2004
On November 2, 2004, Harold E. Ford, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ruben M. Fort (R) and Jim Maynard (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Harold E. Ford, Jr. incumbent	82%	190,648
	Republican	Ruben M. Fort	17.9%	41,578
	Write-in	Jim Maynard	0.1%	166
Total Votes				232,392

2002
On November 5, 2002, Harold E. Ford, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Tony Rush (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Harold E. Ford, Jr. incumbent	83.8%	120,904
	Independent	Tony Rush	16.1%	23,208
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	148
Total Votes				144,260

2000
On November 7, 2000, Harold E. Ford, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He ran unopposed in the general election.

U.S. House, Tennessee District 9 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Harold E. Ford, Jr. incumbent	100%	143,298
	N/A	Write-in	0%	36
Total Votes				143,334

District map

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Tennessee after the 2020 census

On February 6, 2022, Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed new congressional districts into law, approving a proposal passed by both chambers of the Tennessee legislature. On January 18, 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended a congressional district proposal for consideration by the full Senate in a 7-2 vote along party lines, with all Republicans supporting the proposal and all Democrats opposing it. The Senate approved proposals for congressional and Senate maps in a 26-5 party-line vote on January 20. The House approved the congressional plan in a 70-26 party-line vote on January 24. This map took effect for Tennessee's 2022 congressional elections.

On November 15, 2021, Tennessee Democrats released a congressional district map keeping major cities like Nashville whole and putting Williamson, Rutherford, and Wilson counties in the state's fourth congressional district. The House Select Committee on Redistricting released a proposal on January 12, 2022.

How does redistricting in Tennessee work? In Tennessee, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.

The Tennessee Constitution requires that state Senate districts "preserve counties whole where possible." State statutes mandate that no more than 30 counties may be split across districts. Furthermore, state law requires that state legislative districts be contiguous. There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 9th Congressional District prior to the 2010 redistricting.

See also: Redistricting in Tennessee after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Tennessee State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+23. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 23 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Tennessee's 9th the 40th most Democratic district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+22. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 22 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Tennessee's 9th the 52nd most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 73.3%-25.1%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+22. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 22 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Tennessee's 9th the 53rd most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 73.3% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 25.1%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+28. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 28 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Tennessee's 9th Congressional District the 33rd most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.06. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.06 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Tennessee
• Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2024
• Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2022
• Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2020
• Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 9

Footnotes

[show]

Tennessee's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Marsha Blackburn (R)

Bill Hagerty (R)

Representatives

District 1

Diana Harshbarger (R)

District 2

Tim Burchett (R)

District 3

Charles Fleischmann (R)

District 4

Scott DesJarlais (R)

District 5

Andy Ogles (R)

District 6

John Rose (R)

District 7

Matt Van Epps (R)

District 8

David Kustoff (R)

District 9

Steve Cohen (D)

Republican Party (10)

Democratic Party (1)