Go take a look at the Congressional redistricting map again. Especially Shelby County, of course.
Notice that little finger from Stephen "Gospel-Singing Farmer" Fincher's 8th District that looks like it comes into Memphis? I had thought, as others had, that it stopped at I-240 on the West and snaked around to Walnut Grove Road and the Wolf River. We haven't seen the precinct list yet (the GOP won't release it yet), so we have had to make guesses as to where it went.
I have learned today that this is wrong. REAL WRONG. As in, the western edge of the 8th District is GOODLETT ROAD. As in, the EASTERN EDGE of my precinct. As in, almost all of the primarily Jewish neighborhoods of the city will lose the representation of the first Jewish Congressman ever elected in Tennessee.
Temple Israel? Represented by a gospel-singing farmer whose district is 75% rural. Beth El Sholom? No more Cohen. Jewish Community Center? Represented by the man from Frog Jump.
And, to insult to injury, Millington, which is as non-urban as you can get in this county, now is represented by Steve Cohen. Yes, the home of the Political Cesspool is now in Steve Cohen's district but not any of the Jewish institutions of Memphis. That's not fair to Millingtonians, either.
Now, Steve Cohen is not in any danger of losing his seat, despite what some would have you believe, and I know he realizes that, too, although he is running for a fourth term like he is twenty points behind, because he ALWAYS runs that way. This is how he managed to receive 75% of the African-American vote in 2010 against the City's first African-American Mayor.
However, what the GOP has done is to crap on those people who have supported Steve the most over the years. It is frightening to me that the 8th District is only six blocks away from my house and not ten miles away, as it SHOULD be. Stephen Fincher should have NO part of the City of Memphis; the eastern suburbs will vote for a GOP candidate even if it were RuPaul, but not the CITY.
Given that the GOP did this in secret, they need to be held accountable. The West Tennessee regional coordinator for the Congressional redistricting effort is Senator Mark Norris of Collierville. Please call his office at 615-741-1967 and let him know how you feel about Steve Cohen being taken from you.
