Rep. Jim Cooper Announces 2020 Campaign to Retain 5th Congressional District Seat

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) announced his re-election bid for 2020.

A statement by the congressman’s spokesman Chris Carroll said, “Jim is honored to represent Cheatham, Davidson, and Dickson counties in Congress, and he looks forward to running for re-election in 2020,” according to a story in The Tennessean.

Cooper handily won re-election Nov. 6 against Republican challenger Jody Ball by a margin of 67.8 percent to 32.2 percent, Ballotpedia said.

Cooper is not the only Tennessee politician to make an announcement about 2020 this week.

When U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced Monday he would not run for re-election, Cooper said this in a statement:

Lamar is finishing a stellar career in Tennessee politics. I honor him for his service, but I also hope he will use his last two years in office to challenge President Trump the way that Bob Corker has done. I am worried that the Tennessee Republican Party is losing the legacy of Howard Baker: his willingness to investigate his own president, to insist on fiscal discipline, open markets, and civil rights. America needs that fair-mindedness now more than ever.”

Cooper’s voting record is available here.

Last month Cooper signed a letter with 17 other House Democrats saying he would not vote for US. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-52) as speaker of the House when Democrats officially take control of the chamber in January.

Cooper voted against Pelosi in 2011, 2013, twice in 2015 and 2017, each time coming after Democrats lost the House in 2010.

In July, Cooper refused to vote in support of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency within the Department of Homeland Security by casting a “present” ballot rather than “yes” or “no” on a resolution in support of the agency.

Cooper has served in the 5th District since 2002, but that is not his only Congressional experience. He served in the 4th District from 1983 to 1995, his biography in the 2017-2018 Tennessee Blue Book says.

He is a member of the Committee on Armed Services, is Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, and is on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, his website says. The congressman has been married to Martha Cooper for 33 years. They have three children.

In addition to serving in Congress, Cooper is an adjunct professor of Health Care Management at Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management.

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Background Photo “Tennessee Capital” by Andre Porter. CC BY-SA 3.0.