Veteran moderate Democrat Jim Cooper will retire after Tennessee GOP gerrymanders his House seat
Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper announced Tuesday that he would retire, a declaration that came one day after Tennessee’s Republican legislature passed a new gerrymander designed to turn his 5th Congressional District red. Cooper’s existing seat, which includes all of Nashville, backed Joe Biden 60-37; however, by splitting the city between the 5th, 6th, and 7th Districts, the GOP has created a new 5th that would have favored Donald Trump 54-43.