Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, a Democrat, conceded Wednesday to Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor in the race for the 9th Congressional District, a day after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Taylor finished roughly 2,500 votes ahead of Pearson, according to the Tennessee Outlook. Pearson will remain in office as the state representative for District 86, which he continues to hold separately from the congressional race.
Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Pearson framed the loss as part of a broader fight. “What I will tell you, without a shadow of a single doubt, is that together we changed history,” he said. “Tennessee, and Tennessee politics, will never be the same again. Together, we have made history in a district that they drew to gerrymander us into oblivion.”
In a written statement following the race, Pearson said, “I accept the results of this election for Congress. But, I will not concede to rigged maps, attacks on democracy in Tennessee, or to billionaire control of our political system.”
At his own watch party, Taylor credited voters for siding with him over an opponent he said Democrats had fought hard to keep in the seat. “Democrats did not want to give that seat up,” Taylor said, according to Action News 5. “And he worked hard. We all worked hard. But I believe the voters in this case chose correctly. They chose confidence over chaos.”
The result marks a significant shift for Memphis. Redistricting divided the city into three congressional districts, and Republicans won all three on Tuesday — the first time in decades that Memphis has been represented in Washington entirely by the GOP.
In a statement, Taylor took aim at his opponent’s politics, saying, “My former opponent and his Democratic Socialist comrades have agendas that lead to higher energy costs, grocery prices, and more regulation on businesses and farms. While I will work with anyone to lower costs, I will fight anyone whose failing ideas will increase costs on Tennesseans.”
He also drew a historical comparison, noting that the district was once represented by David Crockett, who was first elected to Congress in 1826. “I think I have that same Tennessee grit that David Crockett exemplified, and I will fight for Tennesseans every single day,” Taylor wrote. “The hard work started yesterday, and I look forward to representing you. After my faith and my family, it is my greatest honor and responsibility. I will not let you down!”
Pearson has drawn national attention for sharp criticism of Republicans in recent years, previously accusing GOP state lawmakers of pushing democracy toward “mob rules” and describing the state Republican Party as captured by “fascists and neo-Confederates.” He has also referred to President Donald Trump as a “white supremacist domestic terrorist” and said he himself was “the biggest white supremacist in the United States.”
Tuesday’s statewide results also included a win for Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the Tennessee governor’s race, where she defeated Memphis Councilwoman Jerri Green, a Democrat.
