Rep. Steve Cohen Announces He Will Not Seek Re-election

Democratic US Representative Steve Cohen announced he will not seek re-election after Tennessee's legislature redrew his Memphis-area district. The state's new congressional map, signed into law by the governor on May 7, breaks up the majority-Black 9th District that Cohen has represented since 2007.

The redrawing makes the area part of three new Republican-leaning districts. Cohen is the only Democrat in Tennessee's 11-member congressional delegation.

"I don’t want to quit.

I’m not a quitter," Cohen, 76, told reporters in Washington. " The lawmaker is challenging the state's new map in court. He said he would re-enter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district. Tennessee is scheduled to hold its House primaries on Aug.

6. The new map took effect after the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision in a Louisiana case. That 6-3 ruling found that intentionally drawing House districts primarily on the basis of race violated the 14th Amendment unless used to remedy specific instances of discrimination.

Tennessee was the first state to redraw its congressional map after the Supreme Court decision. Since then, Republicans in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina have moved to redraw their House maps ahead of the 2030 census. The prior map had created a deep-blue district that elected Cohen by wide margins for nearly two decades.

Cohen, a Memphis native, has developed a reputation as one of the more colorful characters in Congress. In 2019, he brought a bucket of fried chicken to a House Judiciary Committee hearing where then-Attorney General Bill Barr was a no-show. The previous year, he drew criticism from veterans groups for telling a disgraced FBI official that he would award him a Purple Heart if he could.

>"I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. " — Rep. Steve Cohen, May 15, 2026 (New York Post) The redistricting leaves Tennessee without a majority-Black congressional district for the first time in years. Cohen's decision not to run comes as the state prepares for its August primaries under the new boundaries.