9th Congressiional District

Name-Checking 2026

Politics is like any professional sport you could name in that new rosters, new seasons, and new players are undergoing formation and preparation even as current contests are grinding to a conclusion.

To be specific, there is a ferment of activity in Shelby County right now, aimed at the elections of 2026. Two positions in particular already have potential candidates looking at them seriously and making plans.

The positions are those for Shelby County mayor, where current Mayor Lee Harris will be completing his term-limited time in office, and the 9th District congressional seat, held against all comers by incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen since his election there in 2006.

County mayor: At least six Democrats are looking seriously at the idea of seeking what will be an open seat. (Note: There may well be Republicans eyeing it as well, but, the county’s demographic imbalance being what it is, the GOP is as fundamentally handicapped in seeking local office as Democrats are in attempting to crack the Republican supermajority statewide.)

Melvin Burgess, the current assessor, is known to be contemplating a run for county mayor. He’s been thinking out loud about it since his time serving on the county commission from 2010 to 2018.

His experience in office and genial personality, coupled with the lingering resonance with voters of his father, Melvin Burgess Sr., an erstwhile police chief, give him a leg up.

Harold Collins, the current CAO for Shelby County Government and former city councilman and candidate for city mayor, has acknowledged the likelihood of a race for county mayor and is all but announced.

J.W. Gibson, the mega-developer and former county commissioner who ran for Memphis mayor last year, is holding meet-and-greets with an eye toward a county mayor’s race.

JB Smiley Jr., the erstwhile gubernatorial hopeful now serving as chair of the Memphis City Council, is being somewhat coy about it but has convinced friends he’ll seek the county mayor’s job as a logical stepping-stone from his present power position.

Mickell Lowery is the son of Myron Lowery, a former well-known local city councilman who served a temporary term as Memphis mayor. Having successfully acquitted a term as county commission chair, the younger Lowery is considered ripe for advancement.

Heidi Kuhn, the current Criminal Court clerk, is known to be actively preparing a race for county mayor, one based both on her activist conduct of her present job and her highly saleable personal qualities.

• The outlook for the 9th District congressional seat is somewhat different, in that the seat won’t be open unless the present long-term incumbent, Democrat Steve Cohen, chooses to vacate it.

There is no current indication that Cohen is so minded, and his record of responsiveness to this majority-Black district, along with his unbroken string of successes against a string of name challengers make a direct challenge to Cohen almost prohibitively difficult.

Yet potential candidates are in the wings. Most obvious is current County Mayor Harris, whose prior legislative service on the city council and in the state Senate, where he was Democratic leader, whetted his appetite for such a job. His credentials have meanwhile been enhanced by strong service as an activist mayor.

Another prospect is District 86 state Representative Justin J. Pearson, whose strong activism and oratorical prowess, freshly demonstrated at the just concluded DNC, suit him for a rise in the political ranks.

And yet another prospect, if an open race should develop, is state Senator Raumesh Akbari, unique as a Democratic legislator who enjoys wide respect across political lines and has something of a national reputation as well.

Gene Bryan

The latest effort on Republican challenger George Flinn’s behalf in the 9th District congressional race is an appeal to Cordova residents that incumbent Democratic congressman Steve Cohen regards as a “conflict of interest.”

Dated October 25 and received in some households as late as this past weekend, it’s a letter from Gene Bryan, who identifies himself as “your neighbor and President of the Cordova Leadership Council.” The Council is the organization that for several years has functioned as a civic club and lobbying group on behalf of the sprawling East Memphis/suburban community of Cordova.

Early on, the letter tells recipients, “If we support a congressional candidate that supports Cordova, we can protect our community.” It continues, in caps, ‘THIS IS WHY I AM ASKING YOU TO VOTE FOR GEORGE FLINN FOR CONGRESS.”

Bryan says further, “When Dr. Flinn represented us on the Shelby County Commission he stood with us. He voted to protect Germantown Parkway and not let it turn into another Winchester Road, where all the businesses packed up and left.He also voted for the County-wide Adult Entertainment Ordinance, protecting us against Steve Cooper.” (Strip-club owner Cooper is the owner of Stella Marris, and on again/off again Cordova dining and dancing establishment whose zoning approval was hotly resisted by the Cordova Leadership Council and whose status is still being monitored by Council members.)

In bold letters, Bryan says, “We, members of the Cordova Community, now need to stand with Dr. Flinn.”

The letter is critical of Cohen, saying, “Congressman Cohen, when told he would be representing Cordova talked about how far out Cordova was and that he would not be representing a lot of ‘Tea Party people.’ Has he been out to our community, is he even in touch with Cordova is he thinks we are all just ‘Tea Partiers?’…”

Asked how Cohen had responded to appeals from the Cordova Leadership Council, Bryan acknowledged, “We haven’t really reached out to him that much.” And he further said that he was speaking as an individual in the letter not as a representative of the Council.

Bryan said that Cordova Leadership Council itself does not endorse candidates., insisting that he spoke for himself and that his reminder in the letter of his Council affiliation did not differ in kind from a similar statement of affiliation by Roby Williams, president of the Black Business Association in his public endorser of Cohen.

In suggesting a conflict of interest on Bryan’s part, Cohen noted that Bryan is listed on his Facebook page as “Director of Research and Planning at Caissa Public Strategies. That is the public relations firm that is assisting Flinn in his campaign, and Bryan confirmed that he is an employee of the firm, which is run by Bryan Stephens, his colleague for many years in the Cordova Leadership Council.

Said Cohen in a statement: “I am shocked that Gene Bryan, President of the Cordova Leadership Council would write to Cordova residents urging support for George Flinn and not let them know that the company he works for, Caissa Public Strategy, is making hundreds of thousands from Flinn.
“George Flinn has tried to buy this election with over $2 million of his own money. The 9th District is not for sale.

“Gene Bryan, who works for a public relations firm, should know it is a violation of public trust to not disclose that the company he works for is getting hundreds of thousands from Flinn.

“Cordova is not for sale either.”

Cohen said he expected to get a fair share of the votes in Cordova, the sprawling area, generally regarded as politically conservative, which occupies much of east Memphis and extends into unincorporated Shelby County.

The area, formerly a part of the 8th Congressional District, became part of the 9th after GOP-controlled reapportionment following the 2010 Census.

the Bryant letter