Redistricting controlled by Tennessee Republicans

We have recently seen a lot of angst among Tennessee Democrats regarding the decennial federal census and legally required "redistricting" process - drawing a new map for representation in the state House of Representatives and Senate and, most prominently, a new map for the state's nine districts in the United States House of Representatives.

Currently, Nashville and Davidson County are at entirely placed in the Fifth Congressional District and share this district with Dickson County and most of my native Cheatham County.

These district boundaries are about to change. As best I can tell from the maps published by The Tennessean, I will be placed in the Seventh Congressional District, along with part of Davidson County and some thirteen other counties stretching as far south as Wayne County on the Alabama state line and as far west as Benton and Decatur counties in the Western grand division of Tennessee.

The Fifth Congressional District will comprise part of Davidson and all or part of five other counties.  The Sixth District will comprise part of Davidson and all or part of seventeen other counties. Our days of being in one U.S. House district are over.

Tribute is being paid to Representative Jim Cooper, a "blue dog" Democrat who has spent a big portion of his life in the House of Representatives. First elected to the Fourth District in 1982, Cooper stayed there until leaving his seat to run for the United States Senate in 1994. After being defeated by Fred Thompson, Cooper left Congress until 2002. Then a resident of Nashville, Cooper ran successfully for the seat being vacated by Bob Clement, who also has a family history in Tennessee politics (Clement and Cooper are both sons of former governors). Clement lost to Lamar Alexander in a 2002 race for the United States Senate, and his career in politics later ended with an unsuccessful run for Nashville mayor in 2007. Jim Cooper has served as our U.S. rep since 2003.

Attorney Cameron Smith of Nolensville, Tennessee summed things up well in a recent Tennessean editorial. Since black voters don't make up a majority of the current Fifth Congressional District, no lawsuit citing the federal Voting Rights Act will be successful. A suit has been threatened and may or may not happen. But the new map has been drawn and is likely to stay intact.

Republicans have claimed that placing Metro Nashville into three U.S. House districts will actually help it, with diversity, combined representation of rural and urban areas, and three representatives versus one. Attorney Smith accurately described the current political landscape in Congress. Despite his veteran status in the House, Cooper has been offered no top committee chair positions and seems to be positioned against the current liberal slant of the national Democratic party. One leader of this liberal wing, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York's 14th District, has supported Cooper's primary challenger Odessa Kelly in recent times.

But the bottom line was stated long ago by one of the founders of the modern Democratic party, President Andrew Jackson: "To the victor go the spoils". For many years, top Democrats have proven to be unsuccessful at polls statewide. The largest losses for the party were Harold Ford to Bob Corker in 2006 for the United States Senate, Phil Bredesen to Marsha Blackburn in 2018 for the United States Senate, and Karl Dean to Bill Lee in 2018 for governor. The last Democrat to win election to statewide office was Bredesen in 2006 for a second term for governor. 

Democrats in the state have failed in a big way to elect candidates outside of Davidson and Shelby counties for a long time, and the impact will likely continue to be felt for decades, including a one seat pickup for the GOP in the 2022 mid term Congressional elections.

We are now in an era where the Republican primary will determine the winner of the election for Tennessee governor and both seats in the United States Senate.

Our state has a history of being a "ticket splitter" and voted for the winner in Presidential elections each time from 1964 through 2004 (eleven straight Presidential elections). We have produced strong office holders from both sides of the aisle on all levels of government who govern for the people over the party and know when to compromise and to work with the other side, including senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, governors Ned McWherter and Phil Bredesen, and even current governor Bill Lee.

These days are no more. We can cherish our history and support all elected officials moving forward. But the political tide is getting more "Red" and less "Blue" with the passage of time.

James A. Rose

Publisher