Steve Cohen ends reelection bid after Tennessee redraws district
Steve Cohen announced Friday that he is ending his bid for reelection after Tennessee Republicans enacted a new U.S. House map that carved up his Memphis district. He made the announcement in his Washington, D.C., office, saying he may return to the race if his lawsuit restores the old district.
Tennessee House map
Cohen said, "I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me," as he described the impact of the map on the district he has represented for about two decades. The redraw split his majority-Black district after Republicans in Tennessee approved the new map earlier this month.
The change carries a direct consequence for Memphis voters who have been represented by Cohen for years: his decision leaves the district without an incumbent in the November midterm elections unless the court fight changes the map first. Cohen is challenging Tennessee’s redistricting effort in court, and he said he would reenter the race if the lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.
Cohen and voting rights
The dispute comes after Tennessee became the first state to pass new congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities. Republicans in Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina have also taken steps toward redistricting, adding pressure to map fights across the South.
Cohen, a longtime member of the House Judiciary Committee, has focused on strengthening voting access and civil rights. During Trump’s first term in 2019, he brought a bucket of fried chicken to a House Judiciary Committee hearing after then-Attorney General William P. Barr did not appear. Cohen said at the time, "The message is Attorney General Bill Barr is not brave enough to answer questions from a staff attorney and members of the Judiciary Committee."
For now, the race turns on Cohen’s court case. If he wins, he says he would get back in; if he does not, the district he has held for about two decades will move on without him on the ballot.
