After three decades of representing Nashville in Congress, Rep. Jim Cooper is set to retire in January 2023. But he remains critical of the Tennessee Republicans who split the state’s 5th Congressional District into three new districts.
“I was still terribly disappointed that the Republicans had chopped up Nashville. … That’s an injustice to all Nashvillians, regardless of party. It’s an insult to the capital city of our state. It’s morally wrong what they did, and they know it. But they got away with it,” said Cooper on Thursday’s episode of This Is Nashville, where he answered listener-submitted questions.
Cooper decided to step away from office in January after Republicans redrew district maps for Tennessee.
Since 2002, the congressman has won every general election he has participated in the 5th District with at least 57% of the vote. However, he isn’t confident that he would have retained his seat against Congressman-elect Andy Ogles, a conservative Republican and former Maury County mayor.
“I welcome you to come visit the two counties outside of Nashville that I’ve been trying to carry for 10 or 20 years and failed every single time. I welcome you to live in one of these outlying counties. I welcome you to send your kids to school there, to work there, and then you’ll understand more what I’m talking about,” Cooper said. “For whatever reason, and I think these are wrong reasons, the Democratic brand has not been as popular as it should be in these other counties.”
After the midterm elections, the only Democratic congressman representing Tennessee will be Rep. Steve Cohen in Memphis. Cooper says that the state’s Democratic party has a lot of work to do before it will be able to send more Tennessee Democrats to Congress.
“It takes appealing to some of these rural counties because we can’t pretend that Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis represent the state. We’re a big portion of the state, but we have to appeal to rural voters. … You can never look down your nose at a rural person. Rural people have many advantages over city dwellers. In many ways, they’re better than we are. So we need to respect that, honor them and figure out how to get their votes,” Cooper said.
Aside from appealing to rural voters, Cooper says that Democrats need to mobilize more Tennesseans to vote, especially younger adults.
“You want a new, fresh face. The younger generation needs to step up and take charge. … There’s something about young people in general that is not as energetic or not as focused as some seniors who are reliable voters. There’s also something about urban areas that don’t vote as much as rural areas,” he said.
Cooper prides himself for having open communication with his constituents and even gave out his cell phone number (615-714-1719) live on air. He hopes that the Republicans elected on Tuesday will continue that same level of openness with the Nashvillians they represent.
“I’ve tried to attend every possible (community) event. … You know, that’s what congressmen do and that’s what they should do. I hope that we’ll see a lot of Andy Ogles, Mark Green and John Rose in our community, and I hope they explain some of their positions that have actually been quite anti-Nashville for a long time,” he said.
When talking about the future of Nashville, Cooper did voice concern about what the state’s Republican majority may mean for Music City, especially since his brother, John Cooper, is Nashville’s mayor.
“We have to be wary of what Nashville could risk with the upcoming session of the Republican legislature,” said the representative. “Cities have a lot at risk when they annoy certain state legislators, and we’ve seen this and myriad forms of social legislation and other intrusions. I believe in self-government. Nashville should be able to govern itself without interference from the state legislature.”
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