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The current boundaries of Tennessee's 8th District

The 8th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes roughly the northwestern part of the state.

Cities in the district include Jackson, Clarksville, Union City, Dyersburg, Brownsville, and Millington.

The district's current configuration dates from 1983, when Tennessee gained a 9th district as a result of the 1980 census. At that time, most of the old 7th District was reconfigured as the 8th District. Much of the territory in this district had been numbered as the 8th District from 1953 through 1973.

Historically, the 8th is a strongly Democratic district. Along with the 5th and 9th districts, it is usually not seriously contested by Republicans. Much of the territory in the district has not been represented by a Republican in over a century.

However, the Democrats in this district are nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in the 5th and 9th districts--based in Nashville and Memphis, respectively. As with the 4th and 6th in Middle Tennessee, most self-identified Democrats in the 8th are usually conservative on social issues, and expect their legislators to focus attention upon obtaining federal funds for local public works or economic development projects, rather than to develop any talents for formulating public policy. Nonetheless, the district's rural and working-class tint usually keeps it in the Democratic column, as most of its residents are wary of trusting Republicans to represent their economic interests. In order to win statewide, Republicans usually need lopsided results here.

The 8th District is composed almost entirely of small towns and farming communities. Jackson is the largest city located entirely in the district, though most of Clarksville is in the district.

The only other major constituencies in the district other than small-to-medium-scale farmers and working-class whites (mostly employees of small industries or trades) are some Memphis suburbanites in Tipton and northern Shelby counties (the U.S. Navy operates a base in Millington) and affluent residents of Jackson who regularly vote Republican and African-American Democrats (generally more progressive ideologically than the region's white officeholders) who reside in the counties along the Mississippi River, those parts of Tennessee where slavery was most prevalent prior to the Civil War. These two groups largely cancel each other out in the voting booth, leaving the balance of power in the hands of voters in the counties closer to Kentucky and along the Tennessee River. Relatively low population growth will likely ensure that these patterns continue into the near future.

Democrat John S. Tanner has represented the 8th District since 1989, making him the second-longest tenured member of the state's congressional delegation, behind the 6th District's Bart Gordon.

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