On August 6, 2026, Tennessee voters picked their party candidates for several big races in November. In the 9th congressional district, Republicans chose state senator Brent Taylor and Democrats chose state representative Justin Pearson. Taylor is endorsed by Donald Trump. Pearson first became famous nationally after he was kicked out of the state legislature for protesting for gun control. The primaries also had a surprise in the 5th district, where former agriculture commissioner Charlie Hatcher beat current representative Andy Ogles, even though Ogles had Trump's early endorsement. The Guardian

The 9th district race is shaped by a big change to its map. Every ten years, states redraw the lines of their voting districts to match population changes — this is called redistricting. But those new lines can also change which party has the advantage. The old 9th district was small, centered on Memphis, and most of its voters were Black. In 2026, Republican officials changed those lines after a US Supreme Court ruling weakened the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 law meant to stop racial discrimination in elections. The new 9th district now stretches about 200 miles east from Memphis through rural areas toward Nashville. According to an Associated Press estimate cited by The Guardian, 71% of voters in the new district are new to it, meaning most people living there have no history with this district's politics.

That change turns what was a safely Democratic, mostly urban, majority-Black district into a large one that includes both the Democratic heart of Memphis and big stretches of rural, Republican-leaning areas. The race between Taylor and Pearson will test whether a progressive Democrat known across the country can compete in a district that has been fundamentally changed.

Pearson became famous about three years before the 2026 primary. He was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives for joining a protest on the chamber floor in support of gun control. His expulsion, along with that of fellow representative Justin Jones, got widespread media coverage and fired up Democratic activists. Pearson was later reappointed and reelected to his seat. Now his nomination puts that national fame in front of voters who are mostly new to him.

Taylor, endorsed by Trump, is a sitting state senator. His nomination means Republican voters in the district went with the former president's pick — something that did not happen everywhere in the state.

In the 5th district, Hatcher's win over Ogles is a rare primary loss for Trump in 2026. Ogles had Trump's early endorsement, but Hatcher had support from Republican governor Bill Lee, under whom Hatcher served as agriculture commissioner. The result shows that in this case, the governor's backing mattered more than the president's endorsement.

On the Senate side, incumbent Marsha Blackburn beat a primary challenger identified only as Rose to win the Republican nomination for governor. Blackburn wants to succeed Bill Lee, who cannot run again because of term limits. On the Democratic side, Memphis city council member Jerri Green won her party's primary for governor.

The Tennessee General Assembly approved the new district lines for 2026. The Secretary of State's office has a tool on its website where voters can look up their new district by address, along with 2026 candidate lists and past election results, at sos.tn.gov.

The broader context here is that the 9th district race matters beyond just one seat in Congress. It is one of the first races shaped by a new redistricting world where the Voting Rights Act has been weakened and a majority-Black district has been rebuilt with a mostly new electorate. The outcome will give an early signal on whether the progressive energy behind Pearson can translate into competitive results when new maps dilute urban minority voting power. Taylor's campaign, backed by Trump in a district that now leans Republican overall, starts with built-in advantages. But the 71% new-voter figure cuts both ways: name recognition matters less when most voters are unfamiliar with the district's old politics.

The 5th district result, meanwhile, suggests that Trump's endorsement, while powerful, does not always win when it runs against organized support from a state's governor. Hatcher's win over an endorsed incumbent shows that governor-level backing can still beat presidential endorsement in local races. Whether that pattern repeats elsewhere in 2026 depends on local conditions, but Tennessee gives us a real example to watch.