The 5th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle and West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Andy Ogles since January 2023.
In the past, the fifth district has been nearly synonymous with Tennessee's capital city, Nashville, as the district has almost always been centered on Nashville throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home to numerous colleges and universities (its old nickname was "the Athens of the South"). It is also home to the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, earning it the nickname "Music City".
Since the 2022 election cycle, there is no longer a congressional district centered on the city of Nashville itself. Tennessee's 5th is a gerrymandered district designed to favor Republican candidates. Prior to the 2020 House Redistricting Cycle, the district contained the entirety of Davidson County (which is coterminous with Nashville), making it a safe seat for the Democratic Party. Following redistricting, Nashville was cracked into 3 separate districts, effectively diluting the city's heavily Democratic voter base into the surrounding suburban and rural counties, which lean strongly Republican. After further redistricting in 2026, the district is composed of major communities such as Lebanon, Mount Juliet (two of the fastest growing areas in Tennessee), Brentwood, Columbia, Spring Hill, Mount Pleasant, Hohenwald, and Lewisburg.
It is the wealthiest congressional district in the state of Tennessee.
Composition For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:Tennessee - Congressional District 1 - Representative Diana Harshbarger
Davidson County (4)
Belle Meade, Forest Hills, Nashville (part; also 6th and 7th), Oak Hill
Lewis County (1)
Hohenwald
Marshall County (4)
All 4 communities
Maury County (4)
All 4 communities
Wilson County (7)
Gladeville, Green Hill, Greenvale (part; also 6th), Lebanon (part; also 6th), Mount Juliet (part; also 6th), Norene, Rural Hill
Williamson County (5)
Brentwood (part; also 7th), Franklin (part; also 7th), Nolensville, Spring Hill (shared with Maury County), Thompson's Station (part; also 7th)
Recent election results
Results under old lines (2013-2023)
Results under new lines (2023–present)
Recent election results from statewide races
Results under 2022 lines Year Office Results2008 PresidentMcCain 57% - 41%2012 PresidentRomney 61% - 39%2016 PresidentTrump 56% - 39%2018 SenateBlackburn 49.54% - 49.50% GovernorLee 54% - 43%2020 PresidentTrump 55% - 43% SenateHagerty 58% - 40%2022 GovernorLee 59% - 40%2024 PresidentTrump 58% - 40% SenateBlackburn 58% - 40%
History Following the 1950 census, Tennessee expanded briefly to ten districts. Even though it has since contracted back to nine districts, that marked the beginning of the continuous period where the 5th district was centered on Davidson County/Nashville.
From 1941 to 1957, Nashville was represented by J. Percy Priest, who was the House majority whip in the 81st and 82nd Congresses. A dam in eastern Davidson County and the lake formed by the dam are both named in his memory.
Priest died just before the Election of 1956, and the Democrats turned to Carlton Loser. Loser won that election, and then to two more Congresses after that. Loser appeared to win another Democratic nomination in 1962, but his primary came under investigation for voter fraud, and a court ordered a new election. In this new election, Loser was defeated by former state senator Richard Fulton.
Richard "Dick" Fulton represented the 5th from 1963 until August 1975, when he retired from Congress to become the second mayor of metropolitan Nashville. Following the 1970 census, while Fulton was representing the district, Tennessee briefly contracted to eight congressional districts. During the 1970s, the district encompassed Davidson, Cheatham, and Robertson counties. This contraction of congressional districts forced the first time in thirty years that Davidson County was not the sole county in the district. (The fifth was only Davidson County from 1943 to 1972.)
Once Fulton was Nashville's mayor, he was succeeded in Congress by former state senator Clifford Allen. Allen served for only a term and a half (November 1975 - June 1978) before he died in office due to complications from a heart attack suffered a month earlier.
In the election of 1978, the fifth district selected state senator Bill Boner. He served in Congress for ten years, and then succeeded Fulton as mayor of Nashville. Boner was succeeded in 1988 by Bob Clement, former president of Cumberland University and son of the former governor Frank G. Clement. Clement served seven terms in Congress, where he represented Davidson and Robertson counties. He was one of the 81 Democratic congressmen who voted for the Iraq Resolution of 2002.
Clement did not run for re-election in 2002, as he was running for the open U.S. Senate seat left by retiring Fred Thompson. He won the Democratic nomination easily, but was defeated in the general election by former governor Lamar Alexander. Clement was succeeded in Congress by Jim Cooper, who, like Clement, was also the son of a former governor. Cooper is considered a blue dog Democrat. According to On The Issues, he is deemed "moderate", but is slightly to the left of the political center. After the 2020 United States redistricting cycle moved the 5th district to the Republican-leaning suburbs to the south of Nashville, Cooper announced that he would not run again in 2022. He was succeeded in Congress by Andy Ogles, the former mayor of Maury County.
List of members representing the district Member Party Years Congress Electoral history District location District formatting March 4, 1813 Felix Grundy Democratic-Republican March 4, 1813 –July 1814 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1813.Resigned. 1813–1823Bedford, Davidson, Lincoln, Rutherford, and Williamson counties Vacant July 1814 –September 16, 1814 Newton Cannon Democratic-Republican September 16, 1814 –March 3, 1817 Elected to finish Grundy's term.Re-elected in 1815.Lost re-election. Thomas Claiborne Democratic-Republican March 4, 1817 –March 3, 1819 Elected in 1817.Retired. Newton Cannon Democratic-Republican March 4, 1819 –March 3, 1823 Elected in 1819.Re-elected in 1821.Retired. Robert Allen Democratic-Republican March 4, 1823 –March 3, 1825 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1823.Re-elected in 1825.Retired. 1823–1833Smith, Sumner, and Wilson counties Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –March 3, 1827 Robert Desha Jacksonian March 4, 1827 –March 3, 1831 Elected in 1827.Re-elected in 1829.Retired. William Hall Jacksonian March 4, 1831 –March 3, 1833 Elected in 1831.Retired. John B. Forester Jacksonian March 4, 1833 –March 3, 1835 Elected in 1833.Re-elected in 1835.Retired. 1833–1843 Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1835 –March 3, 1837 Hopkins L. Turney Democratic March 4, 1837 –March 3, 1843 Elected in 1837.Re-elected in 1839.Re-elected in 1841.Retired. George Washington Jones Democratic March 4, 1843 –March 3, 1853 Elected in 1843.Re-elected in 1845.Re-elected in 1847.Re-elected in 1849.Re-elected in 1851.Redistricted to the . 1843–1853 Charles Ready Whig March 4, 1853 –March 3, 1855 Elected in 1853.Re-elected in 1855.Re-elected in 1857.Lost re-election. 1853–1861 Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –March 3, 1859 Robert H. Hatton Opposition March 4, 1859 –March 3, 1861 Elected in 1859.Retired to join the Confederate Army. District inactive March 3, 1861 –July 24, 1866 Civil War and Reconstruction William B. Campbell National Union July 24, 1866 –March 3, 1867 Elected in 1865.Retired. 1866–1873 John Trimble Republican March 4, 1867 –March 3, 1869 Elected in 1867.Retired. William F. Prosser Republican March 4, 1869 –March 3, 1871 Elected in 1868.Lost re-election. Edward I. Golladay Democratic March 4, 1871 –March 3, 1873 Elected in 1870.Lost re-election. Horace Harrison Republican March 4, 1873 –March 3, 1875 Elected in 1872.Redistricted to the and lost re-election. 1873–1883 John M. Bright Democratic March 4, 1875 –March 3, 1881 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1874.Re-elected in 1876.Re-elected in 1878.Lost re-election as an Independent Democrat. Richard Warner Democratic March 4, 1881 –March 3, 1885 Elected in 1880.Re-elected in 1882.Lost renomination. 1883–1893 James D. Richardson Democratic March 4, 1885 –March 3, 1905 Elected in 1884.Re-elected in 1886.Re-elected in 1888.Re-elected in 1890.Re-elected in 1892.Re-elected in 1894.Re-elected in 1896.Re-elected in 1898.Re-elected in 1900.Re-elected in 1902.Retired. 1893–1903 1903–1913 William C. Houston Democratic March 4, 1905 –March 3, 1919 Elected in 1904.Re-elected in 1906.Re-elected in 1908.Re-elected in 1910.Re-elected in 1912.Re-elected in 1914.Re-elected in 1916.Retired. 1913–1923 Ewin L. Davis Democratic March 4, 1919 –March 3, 1933 Elected in 1918.Re-elected in 1920.Re-elected in 1922.Re-elected in 1924.Re-elected in 1926.Re-elected in 1928.Re-elected in 1930.Lost renomination. 1923–1933 Jo Byrns Democratic March 4, 1933 –June 4, 1936 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1932.Re-elected in 1934.Died. 1933–1943 Vacant June 4, 1936 –January 3, 1937 Richard M. Atkinson Democratic January 3, 1937 –January 3, 1939 Elected in 1936.Lost renomination. Jo Byrns Jr. Democratic January 3, 1939 –January 3, 1941 Elected in 1938.Lost re-election. Percy Priest Independent Democratic January 3, 1941 –January 3, 1943 Elected in 1940.Redistricted to the . Jim Nance McCord Democratic January 3, 1943 –January 3, 1945 Elected in 1942.Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee. 1943–1953 Harold Earthman Democratic January 3, 1945 –January 3, 1947 Elected in 1944.Lost renomination. Joe L. Evins Democratic January 3, 1947 –January 3, 1953 Elected in 1946.Re-elected in 1948.Re-elected in 1950.Redistricted to the . Percy Priest Democratic January 3, 1953 –October 12, 1956 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1952.Re-elected in 1954.Died. 1953–1963 Vacant October 12, 1956 –January 3, 1957 J. Carlton Loser Democratic January 3, 1957 –January 3, 1963 Elected in 1956.Re-elected in 1958.Re-elected in 1960.Lost renomination. Richard Fulton Democratic January 3, 1963 –August 14, 1975 Elected in 1962.Re-elected in 1964.Re-elected in 1966.Re-elected in 1968.Re-elected in 1970.Re-elected in 1972.Re-elected in 1974.Resigned to become Mayor of Nashville. 1963–1973 1973–1983Cheatham, Davidson, and Robertson counties. Vacant August 14, 1975 –November 25, 1975 Clifford Allen Democratic November 25, 1975 –June 18, 1978 Elected to finish Fulton's term.Re-elected in 1976.Died. Vacant June 18, 1978 –January 3, 1979 Bill Boner Democratic January 3, 1979 –October 5, 1987 Elected in 1978.Re-elected in 1980.Re-elected in 1982.Re-elected in 1984.Re-elected in 1986.Resigned to become Mayor of Nashville. 1983–1993Davidson and Robertson counties. Vacant October 5, 1987 –January 19, 1988 Bob Clement Democratic January 19, 1988 –January 3, 2003 Elected to finish Boner's term.Re-elected in 1988.Re-elected in 1990.Re-elected in 1992.Re-elected in 1994.Re-elected in 1996.Re-elected in 1998.Re-elected in 2000.Retired to run for U.S. senator. 1993–2003Davidson and Robertson counties. Jim Cooper Democratic January 3, 2003 –January 3, 2023 Elected in 2002.Re-elected in 2004.Re-elected in 2006.Re-elected in 2008.Re-elected in 2010.Re-elected in 2012.Re-elected in 2014.Re-elected in 2016.Re-elected in 2018.Re-elected in 2020.Retired. 2003–2013Cheatham, Davidson, and Wilson counties. 2013–2023Cheatham, Davidson, and Dickson counties. Andy Ogles RepublicanJanuary 3, 2023 –presentElected in 2022.Re-elected in 2024.Lost renomination. 2023–presentDavidson, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, Williamson, and Wilson counties.
See also