Who’s running in Tennessee’s new 2026 U.S. Congress races

The end of the qualifying period means U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, will not run in the newly drawn 9th U.S. Congressional District, effectively retiring after two decades in Congress.

State Republican lawmakers redrew Tennessee’s U.S. House map on May 7, gerrymandering it to try to flip Cohen’s Democratic-held seat based in Memphis. Cohen is the only Democrat in Tennessee’s nine-member U.S. House delegation.

Longtime US Rep. Cohen announces he won’t run in Tennessee’s gerrymandered districts, ends campaign

The 9th district now includes 11 candidates, most notably state Rep. Todd Warner of Chapel Hill and state Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis in the Republican primary and state Rep. Justin Pearson and state Sen. London Lamar, both from Memphis, in the Democratic primary.

Tennessee took up its first mid-cycle redistricting in decades, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states with a history of racial discrimination no longer have to draw majority-minority districts to ensure Black representation.

Republicans contend the new maps were purely political, following the lead of President Donald Trump. The White House began pushing Republican states to draw new maps ahead of the 2026 midterms, seven years earlier than scheduled. It has since led both parties to create new maps in several states where they have legislative control.

Democrats in Tennessee argued the redistricting process was racially motivated and have sued. A federal judge declined this week to issue an order blocking the maps from taking effect.

Tennessee’s new maps now feature long, horizontal districts that split Memphis among three congressional districts, stretching from the state’s western edge to the suburbs of Nashville.

The gerrymander method, known as cracking, dilutes urban Black Democratic voters by combining them with rural white Republican voters. A similar method was used in Nashville to dilute the Democratic Party’s voting power, a redistricting that led to the retirement of longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper four years ago.

Under the new configuration, Democratic Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder will remain in the 5th district. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Columbia and former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher are also remaining in the Republican primary for the 5th.

Metro Nashville Council member Mike Cortese was previously running in the 5th, but now he’s running in the new 4th district.

State Rep. Johnny Garrett of Goodlettsville and former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary are both still running in Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. John Rose, who’s running for governor.

In the 7th district, Democratic state Rep. Vincent Dixie and businessman Darden Copeland filed to run again. Both  ran in December’s special election for that seat, but lost in the Democratic primary to Nashville state Rep. Aftyn Behn, who is not running this election cycle.

Incumbent Republican U.S Reps. Diana Harshbarger of Kingsport, Tim Burchett of Knoxville, Chuck Fleischmann of Ooltewah, Scott DesJarlais of Sherwood, Matt Van Epps of Clarksville and David Kustoff of Germantown are all running for re-election.

Full candidate list

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