Tennessee's 8th congressional district

The 8th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes most of the western third of the state and borders Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Kentucky.

The district's current configuration dates from 1983, when Tennessee gained a 9th district as a result of the 1980 census. At that time, most of the old 7th District was reconfigured as the 8th District. Much of the territory in this district had been numbered as the 8th District from 1953 through 1973.

Historically, the 8th was a strongly Democratic district anchored in northwest Tennessee. Along with the 5th and 9th districts, it was usually not seriously contested by Republicans for most of the 20th century.

However, the Democrats in this district were nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in the 5th and 9th districts—based in Nashville and Memphis, respectively. As with the 4th and 6th in Middle Tennessee, most self-identified Democrats in the 8th are usually conservative on social issues, and expect their legislators to focus attention upon obtaining federal funds for local public works or economic development projects, rather than to develop any talents for formulating public policy. This was especially important during the days when seniority played a greater role in determining Congressional influence than presently. Like their neighbors in nearby Mississippi and Kentucky, voters in West Tennessee have been gradually abandoning the Democrats in favor of Republicans over the past 20 years, largely under the influence of religious conservatism (part of the Bible Belt).

The major constituencies in the district are small-to-medium-scale farmers and working-class whites (mostly employees of small industries or trades) in the rural areas, Memphis suburbanites in Tipton and eastern Shelby counties (the U.S. Navy operates a base in Millington), affluent residents of Jackson who regularly vote Republican and African-American Democrats (generally more progressive ideologically than the region's white officeholders) who reside in the counties along the Mississippi River, those parts of Tennessee where slavery was most prevalent prior to the Civil War. For many years, these two groups largely canceled each other out in the voting booth, leaving the balance of power in the hands of voters in the counties closer to Kentucky and along the Tennessee River. As a result, it was long reckoned as a classic "yellow dog Democrat" district. However, after the 2010 census, Fayette County and most of eastern Shelby County was shifted over from the 7th district. Eastern Shelby County is the most Republican area of the state outside East Tennessee, and its addition gave the 8th a character similar to the 7th and other affluent suburban districts in the South. As a result, it is now one of the most Republican districts in the nation.

The bulk of the district's vote is cast in the whiter, wealthier sections of Memphis, as well as most of that city's suburbs in Shelby (Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville, Millington, Cordova) and Fayette counties. This area boasts some of the highest median incomes in the state, and has swollen with former Memphis residents since the 1960s. The rest of the district is composed mostly of small towns and farming communities. Jackson is the largest city located entirely in the district. The district already had a strong social conservative tint which grew even more pronounced when eastern Memphis was added to the district; many of the state's most politically active churches are located here.

Republican Stephen Fincher, the first member of this party to represent this district and its predecessors in over a century, has held the seat since 2011. He will hand the seat to fellow Republican David Kustoff in 2017 after opting not to seek a fourth term.

List of representatives

Name	Years	Party	District Residence	Notes
District created March 4, 1823
James B. Reynolds	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	Jacksonian D-R
John H. Marable	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829	Jacksonian
Cave Johnson	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	Jacksonian		Redistricted to the 11th district
David W. Dickinson	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	Jacksonian
Abram P. Maury	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	Anti-Jacksonian
	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839	Whig
Meredith P. Gentry	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	Whig
Joseph H. Peyton	March 4, 1843 – November 11, 1845	Whig		Died
Edwin H. Ewing	January 2, 1846 – March 3, 1847	Whig
Washington Barrow	March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849	Whig
Andrew Ewing	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851	Democratic
William Cullom	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	Whig		Redistricted to the 4th district
Felix Zollicoffer	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Whig
	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859	Know Nothing
James M. Quarles	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	Opposition
American Civil War
John W. Leftwich	July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867	Unconditional Unionist
David A. Nunn	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	Republican
William J. Smith	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	Republican
William W. Vaughan	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	Democratic
David A. Nunn	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	Republican
John D. C. Atkins	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	Democratic		Redistricted from the 7th district
John M. Taylor	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	Democratic
Benjamin A. Enloe	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1895	Democratic
John E. McCall	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897	Republican
Thetus W. Sims	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1921	Democratic
Lon A. Scott	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1923	Republican	Savannah
Gordon Browning	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	Democratic	Huntingdon	Redistricted to the 7th district
Jere Cooper	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943	Democratic	Dyersburg	Redistricted from the 9th district, Redistricted to the 9th district
Tom J. Murray	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1953	Democratic	Jackson	Redistricted to the 7th district
Jere Cooper	January 3, 1953 – December 18, 1957	Democratic	Dyersburg	Redistricted from the 9th district, Died
Fats Everett	February 1, 1958 – January 26, 1969	Democratic	Union City	Died
Ed Jones	March 25, 1969 – January 3, 1973	Democratic	Yorkville	Redistricted to the 7th district
Dan Kuykendall	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	Republican	Memphis	Redistricted from the 9th district
Harold Ford, Sr.	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1983	Democratic	Memphis	Redistricted to the 9th district
Ed Jones	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989	Democratic	Yorkville	Redistricted from the 7th district
John S. Tanner	January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2011	Democratic	Union City
Stephen Fincher	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2017	Republican	Frog Jump	Incumbent, Retiring
David Kustoff	January 3, 2017 –	Republican	Memphis

Historical district boundaries

2003 – 2013

See also

• Tennessee's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. ↑ "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-10. 

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Coordinates: 35°51′20″N 89°05′59″W / 35.85556°N 89.09972°W / 35.85556; -89.09972