Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) has been easily renominated in his Democratic primary tonight, beating back former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s effort to make race an issue against the white progressive Congressman from a majority-black district.
With 59% of precincts reporting, Cohen leads by a whopping 79%-20%. This result so far seems identical to last cycle’s Dem primary, in which the incumbent Cohen faced a challenge that not only centered around race, but also featured seemingly anti-Semitic attacks against him.
As we’d noted earlier, Herenton had focused his campaign around race, arguing that Tennessee’s currently all-white Congressional delegation should have a black member from this majority African-American district. He even made such statements as telling the voters to “come off that Cohen plantation and get on the Herenton freedom train.”
But it clearly did not work, as Cohen was supported by President Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus — and the Democratic primary voters of the district, too.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.