Cohen Reacts To Memphis Mayor’s Challenge

By Kleinheider Posted on April 21, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Rep. Steve Cohen has issued this statement upon hearing the news that the Mayor of Memphis may challenge him for his congressional seat:

“I was surprised to learn of this announcement by the Mayor’s office just now while reading the Commercial Appeal as I have been contacted by neither the Mayor nor any of his associates. I have an excellent working relationship with the City of Memphis as evidenced by the number of projects that received federal funding under the last budget. I believe that the overwhelming margin of victory during my reelection campaign last year showed that the people of the 9th District of Tennessee enthusiastically approve of the job I’ve been doing in Washington, D.C. In my nearly thirty years of public service as a legislator, I have always fought for the people of Memphis, and I plan to continue to do so in the U.S. House of Representatives for the foreseeable future.”

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Tags: Memphis, Ninth District, Steve Cohen, Willie Herenton  

You’re A Racist All Day

By Kleinheider Posted on October 24, 2008 at 9:36 am

Jake Ford, brother of Harold Ford, Jr., on his independent race for the Ninth Congressional district seat against white Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen:

Though Ford says comments he made earlier this year indicating the 9th District should be represented by a black candidate were misunderstood, he did say, “As far as I’m concerned, black people should vote together as a special interest group. If that makes me racist, then call me a racist all day.”

PREVIOUSLY:
Ford Family Fracture
Ford Claims Racially Motivated Attack In An Upscale Steakhouse
A bit of Ninth District history

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Tags: Congressman Steve Cohen, Harold, Jake Ford, Ninth District, Steve Cohen  

Rep. Dan Kuykendall, RIP

By Kleinheider Posted on June 12, 2008 at 12:51 pm

The man who many assumed may very well be the last white man, and who likely will be the last white Republican, to hold Tennessee’s Ninth District Congressional seat has died:

Mr. Kuykendall was one of the architects of the Shelby County Republican Party in the 1960s, the building of which led to the emergence of a highly competitive two-party system across Tennessee.

Shelby County’s conservative Republicans combined with East Tennessee traditional GOP in 1966 to send Howard Baker to Washington as the first popularly elected Republican senator from Tennessee and, four years later, to elect Winfield Dunn as the state’s first GOP governor in 50 years. Dunn was an early ally of Mr. Kuykendall, Memphis lawyer Lewis R. Donelson and others in building the Shelby GOP.

SEE ALSO: The Daily Docket

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Tags: Dan Kuykendall, Ed Bryant, Harold Ford, Ninth District