Tennessee's 8th congressional district

Tennessee's 8th congressional district
Tennessee's 8th congressional district
	Tennessee's 8th congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
Representative
	David Kustoff; R–Germantown
Distribution	60.83% urban; 39.17% rural;
Population (2019)	711,068
Median household; income	$60,152
Ethnicity	73.3% White; 19.9% Black; 3.0% Hispanic; 2.0% Asian; 1.4% Two or more races; 0.4% other;
Cook PVI	R+19

The 8th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican David Kustoff since January 2017.

Current Boundaries[]

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, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Haywood, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, Obion, Tipton, and Weakley. It also contains a large piece of Shelby County and a small piece of Benton.

Characteristics[]

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).

Election results from presidential races[]

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 Trump 66% - Hillary Clinton 30%
2020	President	Donald Trump 65% - Joe Biden 33%

History[]

Districts similar to today's 8th (composing of rural areas in northwest 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, 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 the most Republican district in the state outside East Tennessee and one of the most Republican districts in the South.

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

List of members representing the district[]

Name	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1823
James B. Reynolds	Democratic-Republican (Jackson)	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th	Elected in 1823. Lost re-election.
John H. Marable	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829	19th 20th	Elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Lost re-election.
Cave Johnson	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	21st 22nd	Elected in 1829. Re-elected in 1831. Redistricted to the 11th district.
David W. Dickinson	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd	Elected in 1833. Retired.
Abram P. Maury	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th 25th	Elected in 1835. Re-elected in 1837. Retired.
Abram P. Maury	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839	24th 25th	Elected in 1835. Re-elected in 1837. Retired.
Meredith P. Gentry	Whig	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	26th 27th	Elected in 1839. Re-elected in 1841. Retired.
Joseph H. Peyton	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	Whig	January 2, 1846 – March 3, 1847	29th	Elected December 12, 1845 to finish Peyton's term and seated January 2, 1846. Retired.
Washington Barrow	Whig	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	30th	Elected in 1847. Retired.
Andrew Ewing	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851	31st	Elected in 1849. Retired.
William Cullom	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	Elected in 1851. Redistricted to the 4th district.
Felix Zollicoffer	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd 34th 35th	Elected in 1853. Re-elected in 1855. Re-elected in 1857. Retired.
Felix Zollicoffer	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859	33rd 34th 35th
James M. Quarles	Opposition	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th	Elected in 1859. Could not seek re-election, as West Tennessee seceded.
Vacant		March 4, 1861 – July 24, 1866	36th 37th 38th 39th	American Civil War
John W. Leftwich	Unconditional Unionist	July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867	39th	Elected in 1865. Lost re-election.
David A. Nunn	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th	Elected in 1867. Lost re-election as an Independent Republican.
William J. Smith	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	41st	Elected in 1868. Lost re-election.
William W. Vaughan	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	Elected in 1870. Retired.
David A. Nunn	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872. Redistricted to the 9th district and lost re-election.
John D. C. Atkins	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	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Retired.
Benjamin A. Enloe	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	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897	54th	Elected in 1894. Lost re-election.
Thetus W. Sims	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	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1923	67th	Elected in 1920. Lost re-election.
Gordon Browning	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	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	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	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	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	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	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1972. Lost re-election.
Harold Ford Sr.	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	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	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	Republican	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2017	112th 113th 114th	Elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Retired.
David Kustoff	Republican	January 3, 2017 – present	115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020.

Historical district boundaries[]

2003 – 2013

References[]

^ https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html
^ https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=08
^ https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=08
^ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

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

[1] ttps://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html

[2] ttps://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=08

[3] ttps://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=47&cd=08

[Cook-4] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

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