State Rep. Justin Pearson won Tennessee’s Democratic primary for the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District on Thursday, delivering a victory for the party’s progressive wing after a bitter redistricting fight that dismantled the state’s longtime majority-Black district.

Pearson defeated state Sen. London Lamar, a fellow Memphis Democrat, along with community activist M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams and physician Jim Torino. The victory marks the latest chapter in Pearson’s rapid political rise, three years after he gained national attention as one of the “Tennessee Three” lawmakers  expelled from the state House following a gun-control protest.

Pearson, who was later reinstated to his seat, is seeking to succeed longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who announced his retirement after Republican lawmakers redrew Tennessee’s congressional map earlier this year.

But winning the Democratic primary does not guarantee a clear path to Congress. The map redraw transformed the once-solidly Democratic seat into one heavily tilted toward the GOP.

The Cook Political Report now rates the district as “Solid Republican,” which makes Pearson an underdog heading into November against Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor, who also secured Trump’s endorsement in the race.

The primary became a broader debate over the direction of the Democratic Party, pitting Pearson’s movement-oriented progressive politics against Lamar’s more traditional legislative résumé and deep ties to Memphis-area political leaders.

Pearson campaigned on stricter gun laws, voting rights, environmental justice and expanding economic investment in underserved communities. Lamar emphasized issues including affordable housing, strengthening public education and creating more economic opportunities for working families.

Pearson’s win came against the backdrop of one of the year’s most contentious redistricting fights.

Republican lawmakers approved a new congressional map during a special legislative session and signed it into law in May after President Donald Trump urged several GOP-controlled states to revisit their maps ahead of the midterms. 

The new 9th District bears little resemblance to the longtime Memphis-based seat represented by Cohen, splitting much of the city among multiple congressional districts while creating a vastly different constituency. Democrats denounced the move as an effort to dilute Black voting strength and weaken the state’s lone Democratic congressional seat, while Republicans argued the map better reflected population changes and complied with recent legal developments. 

Court challenges seeking to preserve the state’s only majority-Black congressional district failed to stop the map before the primary after the Supreme Court narrowed protections under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

“This is an attempt to take away, to destroy, to silence Black majority community of Memphis and it is an attempt, in one of the most significant, probably since the end of deconstruction to take away Black political voice in the United States Congress,” Pearson told MS NOW in May.

“What happened in Tennessee was a violation, it was harmful, it was vindictive and it is dangerous to our democracy,” Pearson added.

Lamar has also blasted the GOP-backed map as “a political power grab” and “an attack” on Black voters.

The redraw dramatically altered the political landscape. Some candidates found themselves running in districts where they no longer lived, while many voters are casting ballots in unfamiliar districts for the first time.

For Pearson, the race marks the latest chapter in a rapid political rise that has elevated his profile within the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. He entered the contest arguing that a new generation of leadership is needed in Washington and earned endorsements from several prominent progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

Lamar has countered that her record in the state Senate makes her best positioned to navigate Congress and deliver for Memphis communities. She was endorsed by Cohen, along with several Memphis-area officials, including former Mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. 

While the district has already been redrawn, the general election will serve as an early test of whether Republicans’ aggressive mid-decade redistricting strategy can translate into additional House gains in a state where the GOP already dominates statewide politics.

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