By all accounts, Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson’s bid to succeed retiring Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) is a long shot.
Pearson, who first gained national attention for being expelled from the state House during a gun violence protest, is facing an entirely different political environment in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District than when he launched his campaign a year ago.
Pearson launched his campaign in October 2025 as a bid for generational change, seeking to unseat Cohen, who has represented the district since 2007. But Cohen moved to retire from the seat after the GOP-led legislature redistricted to make the seat a safe Republican stronghold, breaking up the once majority-black district that was considered a safe Democratic seat.
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