State Rep. Justin Pearson won Tennessee’s Democratic primary for the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District on Thursday, delivering a victory for the party’s progressive wing after a bitter redistricting fight that dismantled the state’s longtime majority-Black district.
Pearson defeated state Sen. London Lamar, a fellow Memphis Democrat, along with community activist M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams and physician Jim Torino. The victory marks the latest chapter in Pearson’s rapid political rise, three years after he gained national attention as one of the “Tennessee Three” lawmakers expelled from the state House following a gun-control protest.
Pearson, who was later reinstated to his seat, is seeking to succeed longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who announced his retirement after Republican lawmakers redrew Tennessee’s congressional map earlier this year.
But winning the Democratic primary does not guarantee a clear path to Congress. The map redraw transformed the once-solidly Democratic seat into one heavily tilted toward the GOP.
The Cook Political Report now rates the district as “Solid Republican,” which makes Pearson an underdog heading into November against Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor, who also secured Trump’s endorsement in the race.
The primary became a broader debate over the direction of the Democratic Party, pitting Pearson’s movement-oriented progressive politics against Lamar’s more traditional legislative résumé and deep ties to Memphis-area political leaders.
Pearson campaigned on stricter gun laws, voting rights, environmental justice and expanding economic investment in underserved communities. Lamar emphasized issues including affordable housing, strengthening public education and creating more economic opportunities for working families.
Pearson’s win came against the backdrop of one of the year’s most contentious redistricting fights.
Republican lawmakers approved a new congressional map during a special legislative session and signed it into law in May after President Donald Trump urged several GOP-controlled states to revisit their maps ahead of the midterms.
The new 9th District bears little resemblance to the longtime Memphis-based seat represented by Cohen, splitting much of the city among multiple congressional districts while creating a vastly different constituency. Democrats denounced the move as an effort to dilute Black voting strength and weaken the state’s lone Democratic congressional seat, while Republicans argued the map better reflected population changes and complied with recent legal developments.
Court challenges seeking to preserve the state’s only majority-Black congressional district failed to stop the map before the primary after the Supreme Court narrowed protections under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
