A Veteran Moderate Faces a Progressive Challenger for Nashville's Congressional Seat

Keeda Haynes says Jim Cooper isn’t the fighter Middle Tennessee needs in Washington


On June 26, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill granting statehood to Washington, D.C. It was the first time a chamber of the United States Congress has passed such a bill for the nation’s capital. The last time D.C. statehood came up for a vote in Congress was in 1993, and Rep. Jim Cooper — then a representative from Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District — voted no, with the majority. This time he was in the majority again, but this time he voted yes.

Days later, a mailer from the Cooper for Congress campaign began showing up in mailboxes around the 5th Congressional District, the Middle Tennessee area anchored by Nashville that Cooper has represented since 2003. The mail piece touted Cooper’s long-standing practice of giving out his personal cellphone number. It even included the number (615-714-1719) prominently on both sides. But it also featured a photo of the congressman speaking with four Black constituents, including former Metro Councilmember Erica Gilmore. Among other messages, one statement appeared under the heading “Ending Systemic Racism.”

“Nashvillians from all backgrounds have come together to call for an end to systemic racism,” the mailer reads. “Jim Cooper will bring our calls to end racial profiling, hold law enforcement accountable and reimagine policing to Congress.”

A subsequent mail piece featured an endorsement from Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn, the first African American elected to a constitutional office in the county’s history.

Read more: https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/cover-story/article/21140045/a-veteran-moderate-faces-a-progressive-challenger-for-nashvilles-congressional-seat