Cohen, Stephen I. (Stephen Ira), 1949-

<p>Stephen Ira Cohen (born May 24, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative from Tennessee's 9th congressional district since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the western three-fourths of Memphis. Cohen is Tennessee's first Jewish congressman.</p>

<p>Cohen was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 24, 1949, the son of Genevieve (née Goldsand) and pediatrician Morris David Cohen. He has two older brothers, Michael Corey and Martin D. Cohen. He is a fourth-generation Memphian and a grandson of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Poland. His immigrant grandfather owned a newsstand. Cohen contracted polio when he was five, and the disease caused him to shift his attention from sports to politics at an early age. When he was 11, John F. Kennedy made a campaign stop in Memphis, and Cohen took a picture of Kennedy sitting on a convertible. Cohen describes Kennedy as his political hero; the picture still hangs in his office.</p>

<p>In 1961, Cohen's family moved to Coral Gables, Florida, where his father took a residency in psychiatry at the University of Miami. From 1964 to 1966, the Cohens lived in Pasadena, California, where Dr. Cohen completed a fellowship in pediatric psychiatry at the University of Southern California. Cohen, who had been attending Polytechnic School in Pasadena, returned to Florida in 1966 to graduate from Coral Gables High School, before returning to Memphis where his father had established his private psychiatry practice.</p>

COHEN, Stephen, a Representative from Tennessee; born in Memphis, Shelby County, Tenn., May 24, 1949; graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School, Coral Gables, Fla., 1967; B.A., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., 1971; J.D., University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn., 1973; attorney, Memphis Police Department, 1975-1978; lawyer, private practice; vice-president, Tennessee state constitutional convention, 1977; Shelby County, Tenn., commissioner, 1978-1980; member of the Tennessee state senate, 1982-2006; delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the United States House of Representatives in 1996; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Tenth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2007-present).

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li> 11/03/2020 TN District 09 Won 77.37% (+57.27%)</li>
<li> 08/06/2020 TN District 09 - D Primary Won 84.02% (+69.18%)</li>
<li> 11/06/2018 TN District 09 Won 79.98% (+60.75%)</li>
<li> 08/02/2018 TN District 09 - D Primary Won 90.95% (+84.56%)</li>
<li> 12/05/2016 House DPCC Co-Chairs Lost 0.00% (-33.33%)</li>
<li> 11/08/2016 TN District 09 Won 78.75% (+59.88%)</li>
<li> 08/04/2016 TN District 09 - D Primary Won 85.55% (+75.55%)</li>
<li> 11/04/2014 TN District 9 Won 74.97% (+51.65%)</li>
<li> 08/07/2014 TN District 09 - D Primary Won 66.18% (+33.64%)</li>
<li> 11/06/2012 TN - District 09 Won 75.07% (+51.27%)</li>
<li> 08/02/2012 TN District 9 - D Primary Won 89.30% (+78.60%)</li>
<li> 11/02/2010 TN - District 09 Won 74.00% (+48.88%)</li>
<li> 08/05/2010 TN District 9 - D Primary Won 78.72% (+57.43%)</li>
<li> 11/04/2008 TN - District 09 Won 87.65% (+82.80%)</li>
<li> 08/07/2008 TN District 9 - D Primary Won 79.36% (+60.71%)</li>
<li> 11/07/2006 TN - District 09 Won 59.85% (+37.70%)</li>
<li> 08/03/2006 TN - District 09 - D Primary Won 30.94% (+5.85%)</li>
<li> 11/02/2004 TN State Senate 30 Won 67.20% (+43.76%)</li>
<li> 08/05/2004 TN State Senate 30 - D Primary Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 11/07/2000 TN Senate 30 Won 81.79% (+63.58%)</li>
<li> 11/05/1996 TN Senate 30 Won 99.86% (+99.72%)</li>
<li> 08/01/1996 TN District 09 - D Primary Lost 33.92% (-26.54%)</li>
<li> 08/04/1994 TN Governor - D Primary Lost 4.95% (-48.09%)</li>
<li> 11/03/1992 TN Senate 30 Won 62.79% (+25.57%)</li>
<li> 11/08/1988 TN State Senate 30 Won 68.59% (+37.19%)</li>
<li> 11/06/1984 TN State Senate 30 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
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<p>Congressman Steve Cohen is a fourth-generation Memphian who has dedicated his life to public service. As a child, the challenges of living with polio taught him how to overcome obstacles through persistence and determination, values which would shape his career as a legislator. Filing to run for office on the same day he first registered to vote, Congressman Cohen stepped onto the path that has defined his life and affected the lives of people in Memphis, across Tennessee and now across America throughout his career in national, state and local politics.</p>

<p>During his term as a Shelby County Commissioner, Congressman Cohen cast the deciding vote for the creation of The MED which today, as Regional One Health, has one of the finest trauma care and burn center units in the Mid-South. This would be the first in a long line of votes during his career that would define his legislative philosophy: fighting to ensure the basic human rights of every American, such as access to health care.</p>

<p>During his 24 years in the Tennessee State Senate, Congressman Cohen amassed a strong record of passionate, honest and unselfish service. He consistently spurned special interests to stand up for the people’s interests. In 1984, he drafted and passed a resolution creating one of the first state Holocaust Commissions in America to educate others about and to commemorate the Holocaust. On issues ranging from civil rights to funding for the arts to women's rights to animal welfare, Congressman Cohen was a relentless advocate in the Tennessee State Senate even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Before he was elected to Congress, he became known throughout the state as the “Father of the Tennessee Lottery,” after leading the referendum effort that instituted arguably the most successful education initiative in Tennessee history.</p>