Rep. Jim Cooper (D) Elected 2002, 2d term
Born:	June 19, 1954, Nashville
Home:	Nashville
Education:	U. of NC, B.A. 1975, Oxford U., B.A./M.A. 1977, Harvard U., J.D. 1980
Religion:	Episcopalian
Marital Status:	married (Martha)
Elected  Office:	U.S. House of Reps., 1982-94.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1980-82; Investment banker, 1995-99; Founder and partner, investment bank, 1999-2002.
DC Office	1536 LHOB20515, 202-225-4311; Fax: 202-226-1035; Web site: www.cooper.house.gov
State Offices	Mt. Juliet, 615-773-2305; Nashville, 615-736-5295.
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Nashville is the home of country music and is in almost every way the heart of Tennessee. This was one of the first American cities established west of the Appalachians; Andrew Jackson built his Hermitage nearby above the banks of the Cumberland River, and his political home base has remained Democratic ever since. It was the capital of Tennessee early on, just as it was, and still is, the center of the state's political life and discourse, the so-called "Athens of the South": home to The Tennessean, a classically partisan Democratic paper, and the state's biggest television market. Nashville is proud of its universities and of its columned Capitol and its Parthenon; this is perhaps the greatest center of Greek Revival architecture in America. Nashville is firmly established as the religious publishing center of the country, producing more bibles than any other city in the world. Country music, an art form that emerged from the hardscrabble, mountainous counties of East Tennessee, is a more than $2 billion-a-year business and is one of the nation's dominant radio formats. The industry, run from a series of deceptively modest homes-turned-offices on what's called Music Row, congregated in Nashville because local radio station WSM had a clear channel from which to beam its weekly "barn dances" throughout the South in the 1920s; these later became known as the Grand Ole Opry, the longest continuously running radio show. An expanded Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened in the downtown revitalization project.

For years, both the city's Parthenon-building elite and its religious leaders resented the growing local influence of country music; the former looked down on the music's uneducated practitioners, while the latter cringed at the musicians' unwholesome travails and occasional indecorous deaths. But all three groups made their peace in the 1970s, and since then Nashville has become one of the South's boom cities--the fastest growing metropolitan area between Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. New-generation industry moved in; a large local employer is the Corrections Corporation of America, the world's largest operator of private prisons. An agreeable quality of life, plenty of medium-wage, high-skill labor, a central location, and absence of urban strife and militant unions have all helped make Nashville the largest metropolitan area in the state. The rapid growth has caused local concern, with Mayor Bill Purcell lamenting that he doesn't want his city "to become like Atlanta." But it is, with suburban growth in all directions, despite delay in constructing Route 840 north of Nashville. The dominant cultural tone remains conservative, and fast-growing surrounding counties have become increasingly Republican, but Nashville and Davidson County remain Democratic bulwarks of Republican-trending Tennessee.

The 5th Congressional District of Tennessee includes most of Nashville-Davidson County, plus the bulk of suburban Wilson County to the east and Cheatham County to the west. The 5th is reliably Democratic in statewide elections; to Congress it has elected rather liberal Democrats--this is, after all, the home of the first Democratic president. It was the home of Al Gore when he was a divinity student at Vanderbilt and reporter for The Tennessean, and was the site of his 2000 presidential campaign headquarters; in June 2002, he and Tipper bought a house in the elegant Belle Meade neighborhood.

The congressman from the 5th District is Jim Cooper, a Democrat elected in 2002; he served in the very different 4th District from 1982 to 1994, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate. His father, Prentice Cooper, was governor for six years. Jim Cooper, educated at the University of North Carolina, Oxford and Harvard Law School, won the 4th District seat in 1982 by beating the bearer of another famous name, Cissy Baker, the daughter of then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. When he first took office at age 28, he was the youngest member of the House. Notable for his frankness, he spoke out against tobacco use and opposed the National Rifle Association. He participated actively in the "group of nine" Democrats on the Energy and Commerce that helped to produce a compromise between John Dingell and Henry Waxman on the Clean Air Act of 1990. In 1994, he ran against Fred Thompson for the Senate seat Gore vacated when he was elected vice president. Ads captured a personal contrast between the two candidates: Thompson appeared in workshirts, speaking confidently to the camera while walking up porch stairs; the much shorter and youthful-looking Cooper appeared before a church in starched white shirt and tie. Thompson won 60%-39%.

Cooper then went to work as an investment banker in Nashville and as a teacher in Vanderbilt's business school. In 2002, when local Congressman Bob Clement jumped into the open Senate race, Cooper joined a flurry of Democratic candidates. His toughest opponent was Davidson County Sheriff Gayle Ray, the first woman sheriff in Tennessee, who had support from EMILY's List. Ray attacked Cooper's voting record on health care, particularly on women's health issues. Cooper, an abortion-rights supporter, recalled his actions as a key player on health care initiatives and said that Ray's charges were inaccurate. He ran an ad showing his children describing what he does well (banjo playing, helping with homework, getting health care for senior citizens) and what he doesn't do well (cooking, playing basketball). The AFL-CIO and The Tennessean endorsed Ray; Cooper had support from the Sierra Club and several smaller newspapers. Cooper raised twice as much money as Ray and spent $700,000 of his own money. He won the primary with 47%, Ray faded at the end and got 23%, while state Representative John Arriola won 24% in the seven-candidate field. In the general, Cooper easily defeated Nashville businessman Robert Duvall 64%-33%.

Cooper returned to the House with more seniority than other freshmen because of his previous House service. But he was not able to get back his old seat on the Commerce committee, where 6th District colleague Bart Gordon is now a member. Instead, he joined the Armed Services, Budget, and Government Reform committees; in January 2005 he dropped off Government Reform. His voting record was near the center of Democrats from Tennessee. He won passage in the House of resolutions honoring the life of Johnny Cash and recognizing the benefits and importance of school-based music education. He advocated federal grants to encourage adoption, and he voiced alarm about the growing cost of Medicare. After the 2004 election, he replaced Charlie Stenholm of Texas as policy co-chairman for the Blue Dogs. At home, he urged the Army Corps of Engineers to approve a new amusement theme park near Percy Priest Lake.

Cooper was reelected easily. He has not been mentioned as a likely candidate for Bill Frist's Senate seat in 2006.

Committees

• Armed Services (20th of 28 D): Strategic Forces; Tactical Air & Land Forces; Terrorism, Unconventional Threats & Capabilities.
• Budget (9th of 17 D).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	85	55	63	100	100	15	57	13	9	25	--
2003	80	--	100	100	--	28	53	32	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	63%	--	36%		60%	--	40%
Social	64%	--	35%		60%	--	39%
Foreign	57%	--	42%		70%	--	29%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Jim Cooper (D)	168,970	69%	$1,169,268
	Scott Knapp (R)	74,978	31%
2004 primary	Jim Cooper (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Jim Cooper (D)	108,903	64%	$1,888,568
	Robert Duvall (R)	56,825	33%	$17,615
	Other	5,158	3%
Prior winning percentages: 1992 (66%); 1990 (69%); 1988 (100%); 1986 (100%); 1984 (75%); 1982 (66%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 140,874 (52%) Bush (R) 129,455 (48%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 130,111 (57%) Bush (R) 95,309 (42%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fifth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 6
• District Size: 932 square miles
• Population in 2000: 632,143; 88.7% urban; 11.3% rural
• Median Household Income: $40,419; 12.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 21.9% blue collar; 64.2% white collar; 13.8% gray collar; 11.7% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 68.2% White, 23.4% Black, 2.0% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.6% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 4.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.8% USA, 7.6% Irish, 7.6% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.