Justin J. Pearson, a Memphis state representative who rose to national prominence for his protest against gun violence, plans to challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen in the 2026 Democratic primary.
The Tennessee Lookout confirmed from multiple sources that Pearson will announce his campaign Wednesday. The campaign had not made a public announcement at the time of publication.
Pearson, 30, began his political career as a community organizer, working to oppose the construction of a Byhalia oil pipeline through a historically Black neighborhood in Memphis, and leveraged the work into a successful run for state House in a 2023 special election.
A month after his term started, three adults and three children were killed in a shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School. Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones, a Nashville Democrat, led a series of protests that ultimately resulted in their expulsion from the state House. The duo, along with Knoxville state Rep. Gloria Johnson, were branded as the “Tennessee Three.”
In the weeks after his removal, Pearson significantly expanded his profile with a series of TV appearances and a meeting with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. He was reappointed to the state House by the Shelby County Commission a week after his expulsion and subsequently reelected.
Cohen, 76, began his career in the Tennessee State Senate in the 1980s, serving for over two decades before his successful run for the 9th Congressional District in 2006. He’s considered a consistent Democratic and liberal vote in the U.S. House.
Cohen supports abortion rights, voted for the Affordable Care Act, pushed for the legalization of marijuana and voted to impeach Donald Trump twice during the president’s first term.
Cohen has faced several primary challenges since his election to Congress, dispatching them with ease.
Shortly before Pearson’s announcement, Cohen took to Facebook, where he declined to name Pearson as his challenger, instead referring to him as an “ambitious young candidate.”
“We will turn back this challenge in the Democratic Primary and go on to work with the incoming Democratic House Majority to put a stop to this runaway administration,” Cohen said in the post. “With a shutdown, an out-of-control, power-grabbing executive, and ICE and the National Guard on the streets of Memphis, this is a time for the experience and institutional knowledge that I bring to the table.”
The Cohen-Pearson race will serve as the latest test between older and younger Democrats, as the party looks to reclaim the House majority in the 2026 midterm elections. No matter which man wins the primary, the Memphis U.S. Congressional seat is considered by political rating agencies as solidly Democratic.
The 9th District, which is composed of most of Shelby County and portions of Tipton County, was designated a majority minority district in 1980 and was held by Black representatives — Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr. — until Ford Jr. ran for U.S. Senate in 2006 and Cohen was elected.
The primary election will be held in August, and the general election will be in November 2026.
