The 8th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican David Kustoff since January 2017. The district appears rural on a map, but the bulk of its vote is cast in the suburban and exurban areas around Memphis, such as Germantown, Bartlett, and Collierville, as well as Fayette and Tipton counties. This area boasts some of the highest median incomes in the state.
The rest of the district is composed mostly of small towns and farming communities. 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 there.
According to the 2010 census, the five largest cities located mostly with the district are: Jackson (65,211), Bartlett (54,613), Collierville (43,965), Germantown (38,844), and Dyersburg (17,145). Of these, only Jackson and Dyersburg are not in Shelby County
History Districts similar to today's 8th (composing of rural areas in West Tennessee) have been in place since Reconstruction.
During the early 20th century, most of northwest Tennessee was represented by Democrats Finis J. Garrett (1905 to 1929) and Jere Cooper (1929 to 1957). Before 1933, the district was numbered as the 9th; it was numbered as the 9th again from 1943 to 1953. Cooper was succeeded by Fats Everett, who served until his death in early 1969.
The district was pushed into Memphis' northern suburbs in 1967 due to a re-districting caused by the Baker v. Carr ruling. Following Everett's death in 1969, former Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Ed Jones won a special election for the balance of his term. Jones served the area in Congress for just under twenty years until his retirement in 1989. Upon Jones' retirement, State Senator John S. Tanner succeeded him. Following eleven terms (22 years) in Congress, Tanner retired.
For most of the 20th century, the 8th was a classic Yellow Dog Democrat district. The area's Democrats were nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in Nashville and Memphis, and the area's voters were willing to split their tickets in national elections from the 1960s onward. However, apart from the historically Unionist Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne,Wright, John K.; 'Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps'; Geographical Review, vol. 22, no. 4 (October 1932), pp. 666-672 the GOP was almost nonexistent at the state and local level, with Republicans only fielding "sacrificial lamb" candidates on the few times they fielded candidates at all.
However, Republicans gradually began eroding the Democratic advantage at the turn of the century. It was swept up in the statewide Republican wave of 2008, with Republicans capturing most of the district's seats in the Tennessee General Assembly. This culminated in 2011, when Republican businessman Stephen Fincher defeated Democratic state senator Roy Herron in a landslide, taking 58 percent of the vote to Herron's 39 percent. It marked the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican had represented northwest Tennessee. Since then, no Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the vote.
Following the 2010 census, the district lost its remaining territory in Middle Tennessee, meaning it was entirely within West Tennessee for the first time since 1968. In the same census, it picked up the 7th's share of Shelby County, meaning that since 2012, any area of Shelby County that is not in the 9th is in the 8th. The 8th also absorbed all of Fayette County. The eastern Memphis suburbs, particularly eastern Shelby County, are the most Republican areas of the state outside of East Tennessee. Their addition gave the 8th a character similar to the 7th; it is now one of the most Republican districts in the South.
In 2016, Fincher retired and was succeeded by Republican David Kustoff, a Germantown resident and former United States Attorney. Current boundaries The district is located in West Tennessee. It borders Kentucky to the north, Arkansas and Missouri to the west, and Mississippi to the south. For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST47/CD118_TN08.pdf
Benton County (1)
Camden (part; also 7th)
Carroll County (12)
All 8 communities
Chester County (5)
All 5 communities
Crockett County (5)
All 5 communities
Dyer County (8)
All 8 communities
Fayette County (10)
All 10 communities
Gibson County (10)
All 10 communities
Hardeman County (12)
All 12 communities
Hardin County (7)
All 7 communities
Haywood County (3)
All 3 communities
Henderson County (9)
All 9 communities
Henry County (7)
All 7 communities
Lake County (3)
All 3 communities
Lauderdale County (4)
All 4 communities
Madison County (7)
All 7 communities
McNairy County (12)
All 12 communities
Obion County (10)
All 10 communities
Shelby County (6)
Arlington, Bartlett (part; also 9th), Collierville (part; also 9th), Germantown, Lakeland, Memphis (part; also 9th)
Tipton County (4)
Atoka (part; also 9th), Brighton (part; also 9th), Covington (part; also 9th), Mason
Weakley County (8)
All 8 communities
Recent election results from statewide races Year Office Results2008 PresidentMcCain 64% - 34%2012 PresidentRomney 67% - 33%2016 PresidentTrump 68% - 29%2018 SenateBlackburn 63% - 35% GovernorLee 68% - 31%2020 PresidentTrump 68% - 31% SenateHagerty 70% - 28%2022 GovernorLee 73% - 25%2024 PresidentTrump 70% - 29% SenateBlackburn 71% - 27%
List of members representing the district Name Party Years Congress Electoral history District location District established March 4, 1823 James B. Reynolds Democratic-Republican (Jackson) March 4, 1823 –March 3, 1825 Elected in 1823.Lost re-election. John H. Marable Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –March 3, 1829 Elected in 1825.Re-elected in 1827.Lost re-election. Cave Johnson Jacksonian March 4, 1829 –March 3, 1833 Elected in 1829.Re-elected in 1831.Redistricted to the . David W. Dickinson Jacksonian March 4, 1833 –March 3, 1835 Elected in 1833.Retired. Abram P. Maury Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1835 –March 3, 1837 Elected in 1835.Re-elected in 1837.Retired. Whig March 4, 1837 –March 3, 1839 Meredith P. Gentry Whig March 4, 1839 –March 3, 1843 Elected in 1839.Re-elected in 1841.Retired. Joseph H. Peyton Whig March 4, 1843 –November 11, 1845 Elected in 1843.Re-elected in 1845.Died. Vacant November 11, 1845 –January 2, 1846 Edwin H. Ewing Whig January 2, 1846 –March 3, 1847 Elected December 12, 1845, to finish Peyton's term and seated January 2, 1846.Retired. Washington Barrow Whig March 4, 1847 –March 3, 1849 Elected in 1847.Retired. Andrew Ewing Democratic March 4, 1849 –March 3, 1851 Elected in 1849.Retired. William Cullom Whig March 4, 1851 –March 3, 1853 Elected in 1851.Redistricted to the . Felix Zollicoffer Whig March 4, 1853 –March 3, 1855 Elected in 1853.Re-elected in 1855.Re-elected in 1857.Retired. Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –March 3, 1859 James M. Quarles Opposition March 4, 1859 –March 3, 1861 Elected in 1859.Could not seek re-election, as West Tennessee seceded. District inactive March 4, 1861 –July 24, 1866 Civil War and Reconstruction John W. Leftwich Union July 24, 1866 –March 3, 1867 Elected in 1865.Lost re-election. David A. Nunn Republican March 4, 1867 –March 3, 1869 Elected in 1867.Lost re-election as an Independent Republican. William J. Smith Republican March 4, 1869 –March 3, 1871 Elected in 1868.Lost re-election. William W. Vaughan Democratic March 4, 1871 –March 3, 1873 Elected in 1870.Retired. David A. Nunn Republican March 4, 1873 –March 3, 1875 Elected in 1872.Redistricted to the and lost re-election. John D. C. Atkins Democratic March 4, 1875 –March 3, 1883 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1874.Re-elected in 1876.Re-elected in 1878.Re-elected in 1880.Retired. John M. Taylor Democratic March 4, 1883 –March 3, 1887 Elected in 1882.Re-elected in 1884.Retired. Benjamin A. Enloe Democratic March 4, 1887 –March 3, 1895 Elected in 1886.Re-elected in 1888.Re-elected in 1890.Re-elected in 1892.Lost re-election. John E. McCall Republican March 4, 1895 –March 3, 1897 Elected in 1894.Lost re-election. Thetus W. Sims Democratic March 4, 1897 –March 3, 1921 Elected in 1896.Re-elected in 1898.Re-elected in 1900.Re-elected in 1902.Re-elected in 1904.Re-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 renomination. Lon A. Scott Republican March 4, 1921 –March 3, 1923 Elected in 1920.Lost re-election. Gordon Browning Democratic March 4, 1923 –March 3, 1933 Elected in 1922.Re-elected in 1924.Re-elected in 1926.Re-elected in 1928.Re-elected in 1930.Redistricted to the . Jere Cooper Democratic March 4, 1933 –January 3, 1943 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1932.Re-elected in 1934.Re-elected in 1936.Re-elected in 1938.Re-elected in 1940.Redistricted to the . Tom J. Murray Democratic January 3, 1943 –January 3, 1953 Elected in 1942.Re-elected in 1944.Re-elected in 1946.Re-elected in 1948.Re-elected in 1950.Redistricted to the . Jere Cooper Democratic January 3, 1953 –December 18, 1957 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1952.Re-elected in 1954.Re-elected in 1956.Died. Vacant December 18, 1957 –February 1, 1958 Fats Everett Democratic February 1, 1958 –January 26, 1969 Elected to finish Cooper's term.Re-elected in 1958.Re-elected in 1960.Re-elected in 1962.Re-elected in 1964.Re-elected in 1966.Re-elected in 1968.Died. Vacant January 26, 1969 –March 25, 1969 Ed Jones Democratic March 25, 1969 –January 3, 1973 Elected to finish Everett's term.Re-elected in 1970.Redistricted to the . Dan Kuykendall Republican January 3, 1973 –January 3, 1975 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1972.Lost re-election. Harold Ford Sr. Democratic January 3, 1975 –January 3, 1983 Elected in 1974.Re-elected in 1976.Re-elected in 1978.Re-elected in 1980.Redistricted to the . Ed Jones Democratic January 3, 1983 –January 3, 1989 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1982.Re-elected in 1984.Re-elected in 1986.Retired. John Tanner Democratic January 3, 1989 –January 3, 2011 Elected in 1988.Re-elected in 1990.Re-elected in 1992.Re-elected in 1994.Re-elected in 1996.Re-elected in 1998.Re-elected in 2000.Re-elected in 2002.Re-elected in 2004.Re-elected in 2006.Re-elected in 2008.Retired. 2003–2013 Stephen Fincher Republican January 3, 2011 –January 3, 2017 Elected in 2010.Re-elected in 2012.Re-elected in 2014.Retired. 2013–2023 David Kustoff Republican January 3, 2017 –present Elected in 2016.Re-elected in 2018.Re-elected in 2020.Re-elected in 2022.Re-elected in 2024. 2023–2027
See also
Tennessee's congressional districts List of United States congressional districts
References
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present