Letter to the Editor from Rep. Steve Cohen

Recently, The nation published what appeared to be a public relations article for a young man 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]. Since it is clearly written by someone with little knowledge of the Memphis area or myself, I requested, 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 accelerated when, at age 11, 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 photo I took that day, now framed on my office wall in Washington, isn’t in focus, 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 was not born from a passing trend or the social movement of the moment. It’s not a slogan, or a T-shirt I wear, or a flag I wave – it’s the fabric of who I am.

By the time I was my challenger’s age, I was on the Shelby County Commission and had assembled a bipartisan coalition to fund and build a charitable hospital then called The MED, now called Regional One. This facility has not only saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Memphis – largely those of the poorest people in our community – but it also serves as a destination point for trauma patients from across the Mid-South.

In the Tennessee State Senate, I was a persistent (and often lone) voice for civil rights, women’s rights, economic justice, and equality in a body that technically had more Democrats than today, but very few true progressives.

I didn’t start with a lot of allies, but I had a vision. It took 18 years of hard work, but I successfully built a complex mosaic of cross-party coalitions 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 the state – many of whom could not have afforded a postsecondary education without it. Everywhere I go, I meet people who went to college through this program and share their joy as they build their families and communities. Their victories are my victories.

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 had 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. This tenacity has only strengthened with the seniority I have acquired over the years. And again this year, the Center for Effective Lawmaking named me one of the five most effective Democrats in the House.

I worked hard to win seats on the House Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) committees. The judiciary allowed me to ensure that the Ninth District had a voice in legislation regarding critical issues such as law enforcement, voting, civil rights and women’s choice, and T&I was a natural fit for a city with a bustling river port, an international airport and where so many jobs depend on aviation. FedEx is the economic engine of Memphis and the Mid-South.

As a senior member of the T&I Committee, I reported record amounts of federal funding to support Memphis, and it goes well 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 have worked hard to secure major investments in housing, schools and real estate redevelopment in North Memphis, South Memphis, Orange Mound and all parts of our city, and last week we announced the completion of a more than $100 million investment in low-income housing: Foote Park in South City, a project I helped launch by successfully campaigning for a Choice grant Neighborhood over $30 million. It is now one of the highest quality examples of public housing in the United States.

That’s the difference it makes when you have experience and seniority and know how to produce results.