The generational struggle throughout the Democratic Celebration is coming to the South.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, who grew to become a nationwide determine in 2023 after Tennessee Republicans efficiently ousted him from workplace following a gun management protest, introduced Wednesday he’s difficult Rep. Steve Cohen, a 76-year-old who has held a Memphis-based district for practically 20 years.
Pearson, who’s simply 30 years outdated, introduced his bid with an announcement framing the race in explicitly generational phrases.
“We can’t afford more of the same,” Pearson mentioned. “It’s time for a new vision — one that matches the scale of our challenges with the urgency our people deserve.”
The race between Pearson and Cohen, a fiery progressive who’s one in all simply two non-Black politicians to carry a congressional seat the place the inhabitants is majority Black, is prone to change into one of many signature fights in a burgeoning generational battle throughout the Democratic Celebration, sparked largely by the political failure of former President Joe Biden, who left workplace at 82 years outdated.
Pearson earned day-one endorsements from Justice Democrats, the progressive group who helped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and different members of the squad win workplace, and from Leaders We Deserve, a bunch based by activist David Hogg to again younger candidates for workplace. Leaders We Deserve additionally pledged to spend $1 million within the Democratic major.
“Justin J. Pearson has repeatedly shown the kind of backbone needed to confront powerful special interests, from big oil to the gun lobby,” Hogg mentioned when asserting the endorsement. “Memphis deserves a next-generation leader like Justin — a tested fighter who will deliver opportunity, affordability, safety and justice to his constituents.”
The seat, which incorporates many of the metropolis of Memphis and elements of its suburbs, is safely Democratic, with then-Vice President Kamala Harris incomes a whopping 70% of the vote there in 2024. It’s the solely Democratic-held seat in Tennessee.
Cohen’s standing as a white man representing a majority-Black seat meant he drew two important major challenges early in his tenure: He defeated former congressional aide Nikki Tinker in 2008 and former Memphis Mayor W. W. Herenton in 2010. However within the decade since, he has sometimes cruised to reelection with little problem.
Pearson briefly grew to become a nationwide determine in 2023 following a mass taking pictures on the Covenant Faculty in Nashville, Tennessee, when he and two colleagues ― Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson ― joined a protest supporting gun management on the state capitol. Republicans within the state legislature voted to expel each Jones and Pearson, who’re Black, from the legislature, whereas Johnson held onto her seat by a single vote.
The Shelby County Fee rapidly reappointed Pearson to his job, and he gained a subsequent particular election after which a full time period in 2024.
Whereas Pearson unveiled a progressive platform, together with assist for Medicare for All and gun management, his race in opposition to Cohen is prone to focus as a lot on type than ideological substance. Pearson has been energetic in fights in opposition to pipeline development and an AI knowledge middle in Memphis, whereas Justice Democrats are ready to assault Cohen as an “average absentee Congressman” who takes company PAC cash.
Assist for Israel, which has change into one of many defining ideological splits within the Democratic Celebration, may additionally come into play. Cohen, who’s Jewish, has been a longtime supporter of support to the nation although he has additionally been harshly essential of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pearson, like most different progressives, has referred to as Israel’s struggle in Gaza a genocide.
