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Tennessee's 8th congressional district

Coordinates: 35°51′20″N 89°05′59″W / 35.85556°N 89.09972°W / 35.85556; -89.09972
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tennessee's 8th congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative
Distribution
  • 60.83% urban[1]
  • 39.17% rural
Population (2023)773,599[2]
Median household
income
$65,691[3]
Ethnicity
Cook PVIR+21[4]

The 8th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican David Kustoff since January 2017. The district appears rural on a map, but the bulk of its vote is cast in the suburban and exurban areas around Memphis, such as Germantown, Bartlett, and Collierville, as well as Fayette and Tipton counties. This area boasts some of the highest median incomes in the state.

The rest of the district is composed mostly of small towns and farming communities. The district already had a strong social conservative tint which grew even more pronounced when eastern Memphis was added to the district; many of the state's most politically active churches are located here.

According to the 2010 census, the five largest cities located mostly with the district are: Jackson (65,211), Bartlett (54,613), Collierville (43,965), Germantown (38,844), and Dyersburg (17,145). Of these, only Jackson and Dyersburg are not in Shelby County

Current boundaries

[edit]

The district is located in West Tennessee. It borders Kentucky to the north, Arkansas and Missouri to the west, and Mississippi to the south.

It is currently composed of the following counties: Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Tipton, and Weakley. It also contains a large piece of Shelby County, including the eastern part of Memphis, half of Tipton County, and a small piece of Benton.

Election results from statewide races

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Results under old lines (2013–2023)

Year Office Result
2000 President Al Gore 51% - George W. Bush 48%
2004 President George W. Bush 53% - John Kerry 47%
2008 President John McCain 64% - Barack Obama 35%
2012 President Mitt Romney 66% - Barack Obama 33%
2016 President Donald J. Trump 66% - Hillary Clinton 30%
2020 President Donald J. Trump 65% - Joe Biden 33%

History

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Districts similar to today's 8th (composing of rural areas in West Tennessee) have been in place since Reconstruction.

During the early 20th century, most of northwest Tennessee was represented by Democrats Finis J. Garrett (1905 to 1929) and Jere Cooper (1929 to 1957). Before 1933, the district was numbered as the 9th; it was numbered as the 9th again from 1943 to 1953. Cooper was succeeded by Fats Everett, who served until his death in early 1969.

The district was pushed into Memphis' northern suburbs in 1967 due to a re-districting caused by the Baker v. Carr ruling. Following Everett's death in 1969, former Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Ed Jones won a special election for the balance of his term. Jones served the area in Congress for just under twenty years until his retirement in 1989. Upon Jones' retirement, State Senator John S. Tanner succeeded him. Following eleven terms (22 years) in Congress, Tanner retired.

For most of the 20th century, the 8th was a classic Yellow Dog Democrat district. The area's Democrats were nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in Nashville and Memphis, and the area's voters were willing to split their tickets in national elections from the 1960s onward. However, apart from the historically Unionist Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne,[5] the GOP was almost nonexistent at the state and local level, with Republicans only fielding "sacrificial lamb" candidates on the few times they fielded candidates at all.

However, Republicans gradually began eroding the Democratic advantage at the turn of the century. It was swept up in the statewide Republican wave of 2008, with Republicans capturing most of the district's seats in the Tennessee General Assembly. This culminated in 2011, when Republican businessman Stephen Fincher defeated Democratic state senator Roy Herron in a landslide, taking 58 percent of the vote to Herron's 39 percent. It marked the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican had represented northwest Tennessee. Since then, no Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the vote.

Following the 2010 census, the district lost its remaining territory in Middle Tennessee, meaning it was entirely within West Tennessee for the first time since 1968. In the same census, it picked up the 7th's share of Shelby County, meaning that since 2012, any area of Shelby County that is not in the 9th is in the 8th. The 8th also absorbed all of Fayette County. The eastern Memphis suburbs, particularly eastern Shelby County, are the most Republican areas of the state outside of East Tennessee. Their addition gave the 8th a character similar to the 7th; it is now one of the most Republican districts in the South.

In 2016, Fincher retired and was succeeded by Republican David Kustoff, a Germantown resident and former United States Attorney.

List of members representing the district

[edit]
Name Party Years Cong
ress
Electoral history
District established March 4, 1823
James B. Reynolds
(Clarksville)
Democratic-Republican (Jackson) March 4, 1823 –
March 3, 1825
18th Elected in 1823.
Lost re-election.

John H. Marable
(Yellow Creek)
Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –
March 3, 1829
19th
20th
Elected in 1825.
Re-elected in 1827.
Lost re-election.

Cave Johnson
(Clarksville)
Jacksonian March 4, 1829 –
March 3, 1833
21st
22nd
Elected in 1829.
Re-elected in 1831.
Redistricted to the 11th district.
David W. Dickinson
(Murfreesboro)
Jacksonian March 4, 1833 –
March 3, 1835
23rd Elected in 1833.
Retired.
Abram P. Maury
(Franklin)
Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1835 –
March 3, 1837
24th
25th
Elected in 1835.
Re-elected in 1837.
Retired.
Whig March 4, 1837 –
March 3, 1839

Meredith P. Gentry
(Harpeth)
Whig March 4, 1839 –
March 3, 1843
26th
27th
Elected in 1839.
Re-elected in 1841.
Retired.
Joseph H. Peyton
(Gallatin)
Whig March 4, 1843 –
November 11, 1845
28th
29th
Elected in 1843.
Re-elected in 1845.
Died.
Vacant November 11, 1845 –
January 2, 1846
29th
Edwin H. Ewing
(Nashville)
Whig January 2, 1846 –
March 3, 1847
Elected December 12, 1845, to finish Peyton's term and seated January 2, 1846.
Retired.

Washington Barrow
(Nashville)
Whig March 4, 1847 –
March 3, 1849
30th Elected in 1847.
Retired.
Andrew Ewing
(Nashville)
Democratic March 4, 1849 –
March 3, 1851
31st Elected in 1849.
Retired.
William Cullom
(Carthage)
Whig March 4, 1851 –
March 3, 1853
32nd Elected in 1851.
Redistricted to the 4th district.

Felix Zollicoffer
(Nashville)
Whig March 4, 1853 –
March 3, 1855
33rd
34th
35th
Elected in 1853.
Re-elected in 1855.
Re-elected in 1857.
Retired.
Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –
March 3, 1859
James M. Quarles
(Clarksville)
Opposition March 4, 1859 –
March 3, 1861
36th Elected in 1859.
Could not seek re-election, as West Tennessee seceded.
District inactive March 4, 1861 –
July 24, 1866
37th
38th
39th
Civil War and Reconstruction

John W. Leftwich
(Memphis)
Union July 24, 1866 –
March 3, 1867
39th Elected in 1865.
Lost re-election.

David A. Nunn
(Brownsville)
Republican March 4, 1867 –
March 3, 1869
40th Elected in 1867.
Lost re-election as an Independent Republican.

William J. Smith
(Memphis)
Republican March 4, 1869 –
March 3, 1871
41st Elected in 1868.
Lost re-election.
William W. Vaughan
(Brownsville)
Democratic March 4, 1871 –
March 3, 1873
42nd Elected in 1870.
Retired.

David A. Nunn
(Brownsville)
Republican March 4, 1873 –
March 3, 1875
43rd Elected in 1872.
Redistricted to the 9th district and lost re-election.

John D. C. Atkins
(Paris)
Democratic March 4, 1875 –
March 3, 1883
44th
45th
46th
47th
Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1874.
Re-elected in 1876.
Re-elected in 1878.
Re-elected in 1880.
Retired.

John M. Taylor
(Covington)
Democratic March 4, 1883 –
March 3, 1887
48th
49th
Elected in 1882.
Re-elected in 1884.
Retired.

Benjamin A. Enloe
(Jackson)
Democratic March 4, 1887 –
March 3, 1895
50th
51st
52nd
53rd
Elected in 1886.
Re-elected in 1888.
Re-elected in 1890.
Re-elected in 1892.
Lost re-election.

John E. McCall
(Lexington)
Republican March 4, 1895 –
March 3, 1897
54th Elected in 1894.
Lost re-election.

Thetus W. Sims
(Linden)
Democratic March 4, 1897 –
March 3, 1921
55th
56th
57th
58th
59th
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th
65th
66th
Elected in 1896.
Re-elected in 1898.
Re-elected in 1900.
Re-elected in 1902.
Re-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.
Re-elected in 1918.
Lost renomination.

Lon A. Scott
(Savannah)
Republican March 4, 1921 –
March 3, 1923
67th Elected in 1920.
Lost re-election.

Gordon Browning
(Huntingdon)
Democratic March 4, 1923 –
March 3, 1933
68th
69th
70th
71st
72nd
Elected in 1922.
Re-elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
Re-elected in 1930.
Redistricted to the 7th district.

Jere Cooper
(Dyersburg)
Democratic March 4, 1933 –
January 3, 1943
73rd
74th
75th
76th
77th
Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1932.
Re-elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Redistricted to the 9th district.

Tom J. Murray
(Jackson)
Democratic January 3, 1943 –
January 3, 1953
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
Elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Re-elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Redistricted to the 7th district.

Jere Cooper
(Dyersburg)
Democratic January 3, 1953 –
December 18, 1957
83rd
84th
85th
Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1952.
Re-elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Died.
Vacant December 18, 1957 –
February 1, 1958
85th

Fats Everett
(Union City)
Democratic February 1, 1958 –
January 26, 1969
85th
86th
87th
88th
89th
90th
91st
Elected to finish Cooper's term.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Re-elected in 1962.
Re-elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Died.
Vacant January 26, 1969 –
March 25, 1969
91st

Ed Jones
(Yorkville)
Democratic March 25, 1969 –
January 3, 1973
91st
92nd
Elected to finish Everett's term.
Re-elected in 1970.
Redistricted to the 7th district.

Dan Kuykendall
(Memphis)
Republican January 3, 1973 –
January 3, 1975
93rd Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1972.
Lost re-election.

Harold Ford Sr.
(Memphis)
Democratic January 3, 1975 –
January 3, 1983
94th
95th
96th
97th
Elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Redistricted to the 9th district.

Ed Jones
(Yorkville)
Democratic January 3, 1983 –
January 3, 1989
98th
99th
100th
Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 1986.
Retired.

John S. Tanner
(Union City)
Democratic January 3, 1989 –
January 3, 2011
101st
102nd
103rd
104th
105th
106th
107th
108th
109th
110th
111th
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.
Re-elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Retired.

Stephen Fincher
(Frog Jump)
Republican January 3, 2011 –
January 3, 2017
112th
113th
114th
Elected in 2010.
Re-elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Retired.

David Kustoff
(Germantown)
Republican January 3, 2017 –
present
115th
116th
117th
118th
Elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022

Historical district boundaries

[edit]
2003–2013
2013–2023

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "My Congressional District".
  3. ^ "My Congressional District".
  4. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Wright, John K.; 'Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps'; Geographical Review, vol. 22, no. 4 (October 1932), pp. 666-672

35°51′20″N 89°05′59″W / 35.85556°N 89.09972°W / 35.85556; -89.09972