Rep. Jim Cooper on Tuesday joined the growing ranks of retiring House Democrats, pointing to Tennessee’s redistricting process as the cause.
Tennessee Republicans overseeing the state’s redistricting process carved up Cooper’s district, divvying Democratic-leaning Nashville into three surrounding congressional districts and changing Cooper’s safe Democratic seat into a likely Republican one.
The map would likely shift the Volunteer State’s nine-member House delegation from seven Republicans and two Democrats to eight Republicans and one Democrat. The change comes as Republicans seek to net at least five seats in the 435-member chamber to win back the majority in the House they lost in 2018.
Today I am announcing that I will not run for re-election to Congress. After 32 years in office, I will be leaving Congress next year.
I cannot thank the people of Nashville enough. You backed me more than almost anyone in Tennessee history. pic.twitter.com/C6LE31uFQC
— Jim Cooper (@repjimcooper) January 25, 2022
In a statement, Cooper said those changes forced him to leave Congress.
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“Today I am announcing that I will not run for re-election to Congress,” Cooper wrote. “After 32 years in office, I will be leaving Congress next year. I cannot thank the people of Nashville enough. You backed me more than almost anyone in Tennessee history, making me the state’s 3rd longest-serving member of Congress. You allowed me to help millions of people while representing our state capital, as well as 30 of our state’s 95 counties.”
Cooper added that his “strength at the polls” couldn’t overcome a state Legislature set on “dismembering Nashville.”
“No one tried harder to keep our city whole,” he said. “I explored every possible way, including lawsuits, to stop the gerrymandering and to win one of the three new congressional districts that now divide Nashville. There’s no way, at least for me in this election cycle, but there may be a path for other worthy candidates.”
Cooper said he decided to announce his decision early “so that others have more time to campaign” and that he will return individual contributions he has already received “so that donors can redirect them as they choose.”
“I plan on finishing out my term by maintaining a high level of service to all the 760,000+ people in the 5th congressional district,” Cooper said, thanking his staff and sharing his personal cellphone number “so that I am accessible, even during Covid.”
Cooper said he doesn’t know “what the future holds but I am ready to get another job next year and make up for lost time with family and friends. I could not be more excited.”
“Having started as the youngest congressman in America, even after my record tenure I am still only 67 years old,” he said. “For everything there is a season, a time and place under the sun. My time in Congress is ending, but I can’t wait to start the next adventure.”
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Cooper has held his district as currently drawn since 2003, and he represented a similar Nashville area district from 1983-1995. He was first elected to Congress in 1982, at just 28 years old. He lost a 1994 Senate bid to Republican Fred Thompson.
