Tennessee's 5th congressional district
| Tennessee's 5th congressional district | |
|---|---|
Tennessee's 5th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
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| Current Representative | Jim Cooper (D–Nashville) |
| Population (2000) | 632,143 |
| Median income | 40,419 |
| Ethnicity |
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| Cook PVI | D+5 |
The 5th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Democrat Jim Cooper since January 2003.
The district is located slightly northwest of the state's geographical center. It is currently composed of Davidson and Dickson counties, as well as most of Cheatham County. It is the only Tennessee congressional district which does not border another state.
The fifth district is nearly synonymous with Tennessee's capital city, Nashville, as the district has almost always been centered on Nashville throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home to numerous colleges and universities. It is also home to the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, earning it the nickname "Music City".
The district stretches west of Nashville, and into Cheatham and Dickson counties, which are far less suburbanized than the communities to the south and east of Nashville.
The 5th is historically a very safe seat for the Democratic Party, due almost entirely to the influence of heavily Democratic Nashville. Some pockets of Republican influence exist in Belle Meade, and portions of neighboring Cheatham County. However, they are no match for the overwhelming Democratic trend in most of Nashville.
No Republican has represented Nashville in Congress since Horace Harrison in 1875.
Following the 1950 census, Tennessee expanded briefly to ten districts. Even though it has since contracted back to nine districts, that marked the beginning of the continuous period where the 5th district was centered on Davidson County/Nashville.
From 1941 to 1957, Nashville was represented by J. Percy Priest, who was the House majority whip in the 81st and 82nd Congresses. A dam in eastern Davidson County and the lake formed by the dam are both named in his memory.
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