The Democratic congressman from Tennessee takes issue with our article about his primary opponent.
Recently, The Nation ran what appeared to be a PR piece for a young man who is challenging me for Tennessee’s Ninth Congressional District seat [“Why Justin Pearson Wants to Unseat a 10-Term Democratic Incumbent in Congress,” by Chris Lehmann, posted on October 8]. As it is clearly written by someone who knows little about the Memphis area or me, I asked for, and was granted, the opportunity to submit a letter to the editor.
The heart that beats in my chest today is the same one that quickened when, at 11 years old, I stood with my father along Union Avenue waiting to catch a glimpse of John F. Kennedy—the young senator from Massachusetts running for president. The photograph I snapped that day—now framed on my office wall in Washington—isn’t sharp, but the moment was. It captured something lasting: a call to public service that has guided me ever since.
I was liberal in a place where liberal wasn’t cool. My progressivism wasn’t born of a fleeting trend or the social movement du jour. It’s not a slogan or a T-shirt I wear, or a flag that I raise — it’s the fabric of who I am.
By the time I was my challenger’s age, I was serving on the Shelby County Commission and had assembled a bipartisan coalition to fund and build a charity hospital then called The MED, now called Regional One. This facility has not only saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Memphis—overwhelmingly the lives of the poorest people in our community—but it also serves as a destination point for trauma patients throughout the Mid-South.
In the Tennessee State Senate, I was a persistent (and often the only) voice for civil rights, women’s rights, economic justice, and equality in a body that technically had more Democrats than today, but very few genuine progressives.
I didn’t start with many allies—but I had a vision. It took 18 years of hard work, but I was able to build a complex patchwork of coalitions across party lines to create the Tennessee Education Lottery, which as of this writing has provided more than $8 billion in college, community college, and trade school tuition for children across our state—many of whom would not have been able to afford a post-secondary education without it. Everywhere I go, I meet people who went to college on that program, and I share their joy as they build their families and their community. Their victories are my victories.
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When I was first elected to Congress, although I experienced the challenges of serving as a freshman member, I found that my decades of experience in the Tennessee State Senate prepared me for what I would face, and I was able to bring resources back to the ninth in a way that few others could. That tenacity has only strengthened with the seniority I have gained throughout the years. And just this year, the Center for Effective Lawmaking has named me one of the five Most Effective Democrats in the House.
I worked hard to earn seats on the House Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committees. Judiciary allowed me to make sure the ninth district has a voice in legislation concerning critical issues like law enforcement, voting, civil rights, and women’s choice, and T&I was a natural choice for a city with a bustling riverport, an international airport, and where so many jobs rely on aviation. FedEx is the economic engine of Memphis and the Mid-South.
As a senior T&I Committee member, I’ve brought home record amounts of federal funding to support Memphis—and that goes far beyond the airport. In 2024, I helped secure the largest infrastructure investment in Tennessee history: nearly $400 million for Kings’ Crossing, a new I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis and Arkansas. I’ve worked hard to earn major investments in housing, schools, and property redevelopment in North Memphis, South Memphis, Orange Mound, and every part of our city, and just last week we announced the completion of a $100+ million investment in low-income housing: Foote Park at South City, a project I helped launch by successfully campaigning for a $30 million-plus Choice Neighborhood Grant. It is now one of the highest quality examples of public housing anywhere in the United States.
That’s the difference it makes when you have experience and seniority, and you know how to deliver results.
Earlier this year, I was also honored to be asked by minority leader Hakeem Jeffries to join the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This is a highly sought-after and important committee assignment for our nation’s security.
Throughout my political career—from the Shelby County Commission to the Tennessee State Senate, and finally, to the US House of Representatives, I have built and maintained relationships and cultivated support with groups all across the progressive spectrum. Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady United, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, Human Rights Campaign, Humane Society of the United States—they all have my back because they know I have theirs. Those relationships are not gifted to me because of words I say—I earned them through years and decades of progressive action and legislation.
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This is what Congress is. It is coalition building, bargaining, incremental progress, and legislative discipline. It is not speeches and ticker tape parades. It is not viral videos and endless speeches on the steps of government buildings. It is walking up the front steps of those buildings to have a meeting and delivering for your district. It is not change for change’s sake—it is pairing passionate progressivism with the experience to get things done.
Justice Democrats can call me “absentee,” but that only proves how little they actually know about this district, about me, or about what it takes to do this job effectively. For nearly 20 years, I’ve flown to Washington almost every week, because that’s where Congress meets and the work gets done. And at the end of each week, I return home to Memphis to meet with constituents, attend community events, and be part of the city I’m proud to represent.
Steve Cohen
United States Congress, Tennessee 9
PS: I used the phrase “Keep Goin’ With Cohen” far before Wag the Dog existed. An old friend recommended I use “Get Goin’ With Cohen” in 1988 and “Keep Goin’ With Cohen” when I ran for reelection in 1992, adapting it from an automobile dealership whose name rhymed with “goin’.”
PPS: Keep Goin’ with Cohen!
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