Tennessee's 4th congressional district explained

State:Tennessee
District Number:4
Image Caption:Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative:Scott DesJarlais
Party:Republican
Residence:Sherwood
Percent Urban:56.16
Percent Rural:43.84
Population:796,991[1]
Population Year:2022
Median Income:$65,227
Percent White:75.9
Percent Hispanic:8.1
Percent Black:9.2
Percent Asian:2.0
Percent More Than One Race:4.3
Percent Other Race:0.7
Cpvi:R+22[2]

The 4th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in southern Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Scott DesJarlais since January 2011.

Most of the district is rural, but many residents live in the suburbs of Chattanooga and Nashville. The area is very hilly, and has many well-known geographical features related to its location on the Cumberland Plateau.

This part of Tennessee has several well-recognized distilleries such as Duck River, George Dickel, Southern Pride, and most famously the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg.[3]

The region encompasses many of Tennessee's higher education facilities, such as Middle Tennessee State University,, and Bryan College.

Current boundaries

The district lies mostly in the southern part of Middle Tennessee, but stretches into East Tennessee. It is currently composed of the following counties: Bedford, Bledsoe,Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Meigs, Moore, Rhea, Rutherford, Sequatchie, and the vast majority of Warren.

Recent election results in statewide races

Results under old lines (2013–2023)

YearOfficeResult
2000PresidentGeorge W. Bush (R) 50% – Al Gore 49% (D)
2004PresidentGeorge W. Bush (R) 58% – John Kerry 41% (D)
2008PresidentJohn McCain (R) 62.6% – Barack Obama 35.8% (D)
2012PresidentMitt Romney (R) 65.3% – Barack Obama 33% (D)
2016PresidentDonald Trump (R) 68.6% – Hillary Clinton 27.4% (D)
2020PresidentDonald Trump (R) 67.5% - Joe Biden 30.7% (D)

History

Throughout the 20th century, the 4th district took many different forms, but in most cases encompassed most of the rural area between Nashville and Knoxville. It has often been the state's largest district in terms of area, and one of the largest east of the Mississippi River, because of low population density and the district's rural character.

For almost thirty years (1947–1977), this area of Tennessee was represented in Congress by Joe L. Evins. (Early in his political career, his district was numbered as the "5th", but that district was almost entirely in what became the 4th after the round of redistricting following the 1950 census.)[4] Evins' successor in Congress was future vice president Al Gore Jr., who represented the 4th from 1977 to 1983. The district's current configuration dates from the 1980 census, when Tennessee gained a new congressional seat. Parts of what were previously in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th districts were combined to form a new 4th district. Most of Gore's territory became the 6th district.

The new district incorporated pieces of heavily Republican East Tennessee and traditionally Democratic Middle Tennessee. It was so large that it stretched across five of Tennessee's eight television markets (Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-Cities, as well as the Tennessee share of the Huntsville, Alabama, market).[5] and five of the state's nine radio markets (the above-mentioned cities, plus Cookeville). This gave congressional races much of the feel of statewide races; candidates' advertising budgets sometimes rivaled those for governor and U.S. Senate. Open-seat races in this district were usually among the most-watched in the country. However, the district's large size and lack of unifying influences make it very difficult to unseat an incumbent. Consequently, the district's congressman was usually reckoned as a statewide figure, with a good chance for winning state office in the future.

In 1982, Democrat Jim Cooper, son of former governor Prentice Cooper, defeated Cissy Baker, daughter of Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. Cooper went on to represent the district until 1995.[6] On paper, this district was not safe for either party, given its volatile demographics. Much of the eastern portion, for instance, had not been represented by a Democrat since before the Civil War. However, Cooper was reelected five times without serious difficulty.

Cooper gave up his seat to run for the U.S. Senate in 1994, but lost to Fred Thompson. Republican Van Hilleary won the seat as part of the massive Republican wave of that year. Hilleary was reelected three times without much difficulty, handily winning a second term even as Bill Clinton carried the district due to Gore's presence as his running mate; Gore represented much of the western portion of the district for his first three terms in the House.

In 2002, Hilleary retired to mount an ultimately unsuccessful bid to become Governor of Tennessee, and was replaced by Democratic state senator Lincoln Davis. Davis held the seat for eight years. In 2010, Davis was challenged by Republican doctor Scott DesJarlais from South Pittsburg, who rode to victory on the Tea Party wave of 2010 despite Davis raising more money.[7] This marked the first time that an incumbent had been defeated in the district since the reformation of the district in 1982. Indeed, DesJarlais became the first challenger to defeat an incumbent Tennessee congressman in a general election since 1974. Following the 2010 census, the 4th was made slightly more compact. The district lost its northern portion, including its territory near the Tri-Cities and Knoxville. On the other hand, it gained all of Rutherford County, home of Murfreesboro, and northern Bradley County.

List of members representing the district

NamePartyYearsCong
ress
Electoral historyDistrict location
District established March 4, 1813
align=left John H. Bowen
Democratic-Republicannowrap March 4, 1813 –
March 3, 1815
Elected in 1813.
Retired.
1813–1823
align=left Bennett H. Henderson
Democratic-Republicannowrap March 4, 1815 –
March 3, 1817
Elected in 1815.
Retired.
align=left Samuel E. Hogg
Democratic-Republicannowrap March 4, 1817 –
March 3, 1819
Elected in 1817.
Retired.
align=left Robert Allen
Democratic-Republicannowrap March 4, 1819 –
March 3, 1823
Elected in 1819.
Re-elected in 1821.
Redistricted to the .
Jacob C. Isacks
Democratic-Republican (Jackson)nowrap March 4, 1823 –
March 3, 1825
Elected in 1823.
Re-elected in 1825.
Re-elected in 1827.
Re-elected in 1829.
Re-elected in 1831.
Redistricted to the and lost re-election.
1823–1833
Jacksoniannowrap March 4, 1825 –
March 3, 1833

James I. Standifer
Jacksoniannowrap March 4, 1833 –
March 3, 1835
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1833.
Re-elected in 1835.
Re-elected in 1837.
Died.
1833–1843
Anti-Jacksoniannowrap March 4, 1835 –
March 3, 1837
Whignowrap March 4, 1837 –
August 20, 1837
Vacantnowrap August 20, 1837 –
September 14, 1837
align=left William Stone
Whignowrap September 14, 1837 –
March 3, 1839
Elected September 14, 1837, to finish Standifer's term and seated October 6, 1837.
Lost re-election.
align=left Julius W. Blackwell
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1839 –
March 3, 1841
Elected in 1839.
Lost re-election.
align=left Thomas J. Campbell
Whignowrap March 4, 1841 –
March 3, 1843
Elected in 1841.
Redistricted to the and lost re-election.
align=left Alvan Cullom
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1843 –
March 3, 1847
Elected in 1843.
Re-elected in 1845.
Retired.
1843–1853
align=left Hugh Hill
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1847 –
March 3, 1849
Elected in 1847.
Retired.
align=left
John H. Savage
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1849 –
March 3, 1853
Elected in 1849.
Re-elected in 1851.
Retired.
align=left William Cullom
Whignowrap March 4, 1853 –
March 3, 1855
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1853.
Lost re-election.
1853–1863
align=left
John H. Savage
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1855 –
March 3, 1859
Elected in 1855.
Re-elected in 1857.
Lost re-election.
align=left
William B. Stokes
Oppositionnowrap March 4, 1859 –
March 3, 1861
Elected in 1859.
Redistricted to the .
align=left
Andrew J. Clements
Unionistnowrap March 4, 1861 –
March 3, 1863
Elected in 1861.
Could not seek re-election, as state was under Confederate occupation.
District inactivenowrap March 3, 1863 –
July 24, 1866
Civil War and Reconstruction
align=left Edmund Cooper
Unionistnowrap July 24, 1866 –
March 3, 1867
Elected in 1865.
Lost re-election.
1866–1873
align=left
James Mullins
Republicannowrap March 4, 1867 –
March 3, 1869
Elected in 1867.
Retired.
align=left
Lewis Tillman
Republicannowrap March 4, 1869 –
March 3, 1871
Elected in 1868.
Retired.

John M. Bright
DemocraticMarch 4, 1871 –
March 3, 1875
Elected in 1870.
Re-elected in 1872.
Redistricted to the .
1873–1883
align=left Samuel M. Fite
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1875 –
October 23, 1875
Elected to begin representative-elect John W. Head's term.
Died.
Vacantnowrap October 23, 1875 –
December 14, 1875
align=left
Haywood Y. Riddle
Democraticnowrap December 14, 1875 –
March 3, 1879
Elected to finish Fite's term.
Re-elected in 1876.
Retired.

Benton McMillin
DemocraticMarch 4, 1879 –
January 6, 1899
Elected in 1878.
Re-elected in 1880.
Re-elected in 1882.
Re-elected in 1884.
Re-elected in 1886.
Re-elected in 1888.
Re-elected in 1890.
Re-elected in 1892.
Re-elected in 1894.
Re-elected in 1896.
Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee and resigned when elected.
1883–1893
1893–1903
Vacantnowrap January 6, 1899 –
March 3, 1899
align=left
Charles E. Snodgrass
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1899 –
March 3, 1903
Elected in 1898.
Re-elected in 1900.
Lost renomination.
align=left
Morgan C. Fitzpatrick
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1903 –
March 3, 1905
Elected in 1902.
Retired.
1903–1913
align=left
Mounce G. Butler
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1905 –
March 3, 1907
Elected in 1904.
Lost renomination.

Cordell Hull
DemocraticMarch 4, 1907 –
March 3, 1921
Elected in 1906.
Re-elected in 1908.
Re-elected in 1910.
Re-elected in 1912.
Re-elected in 1914.
Re-elected in 1916.
Re-elected in 1918.
Lost re-election.
1913–1933
align=left
Wynne F. Clouse
Republicannowrap March 4, 1921 –
March 3, 1923
Elected in 1920.
Lost re-election.
align=left
Cordell Hull
Democraticnowrap March 4, 1923 –
March 3, 1931
Elected in 1922.
Re-elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
John R. Mitchell
DemocraticMarch 4, 1931 –
January 3, 1939
Elected in 1930.
Re-elected in 1932.
Re-elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
1933–1943

Albert Gore Sr.
DemocraticJanuary 3, 1939 –
December 4, 1944
Elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Re-elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944 but resigned until next term began to enter U.S. Army for fact-finding training.
1943–1953
Vacantnowrap December 4, 1944 –
January 3, 1945
align=left
Albert Gore Sr.
Democraticnowrap January 3, 1945 –
January 3, 1953
Re-elected in 1946.
Re-elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.

Joe L. Evins
DemocraticJanuary 3, 1953 –
January 3, 1977
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1952.
Re-elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Re-elected in 1962.
Re-elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Re-elected in 1972.
Re-elected in 1974.
Retired.
1953–1963
1963–1973
1973–1983
align=left
Al Gore
Democraticnowrap January 3, 1977 –
January 3, 1983
Elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Redistricted to the .

Jim Cooper
DemocraticJanuary 3, 1983 –
January 3, 1995
Elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 1986.
Re-elected in 1988.
Re-elected in 1990.
Re-elected in 1992.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
1983–1993
1993–2003
align=left
Van Hilleary
Republicannowrap January 3, 1995 –
January 3, 2003
Elected in 1994.
Re-elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee.
align=left
Lincoln Davis
Democraticnowrap January 3, 2003 –
January 3, 2011
Elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Lost re-election.
2003–2013

Scott DesJarlais
RepublicanJanuary 3, 2011 –
present
Elected in 2010.
Re-elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Re-elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022
2013–2023
2023–present

See also

Sources

External links

Congress.com: Tennessee Congressional districts

35.2622°N -86.6289°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: My Congressional District.
  2. Web site: 2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List. 2023-01-10. Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022 . en.
  3. Web site: Map & Guide - TN Whiskey Trail . May 10, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160508001934/http://www.tennesseewhiskeytrail.com/map-guide/ . May 8, 2016 .
  4. Web site: U.S. Congressional District Shapefiles.
  5. Web site: TVB Nielsen 2015-2016 DMA Ranks . May 10, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160511022931/http://www.tvb.org/research/measurement/131627 . May 11, 2016 .
  6. The House: Political Genes and Reaganomics. Time. October 4, 1982.
  7. Web site: Tennessee 4th District Race Profile - Election 2010 - the New York Times.