Steve Cohen Bio
Stephen Ira Cohen (born May 24, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 9th congressional district since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents a majority-minority district that includes the western three-quarters of Memphis. Cohen is Tennessee’s first Jewish congressman and, as of 2023, the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.
Before his time in the U.S. House, Cohen served 24 years in the Tennessee State Senate, where he led the effort to establish the state lottery and championed initiatives on healthcare access, voting rights, and animal protection. He is known for progressive positions on civil rights, criminal justice reform, and cannabis policy.
Early Life and Background
Stephen Ira Cohen was born on May 24, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Morris David Cohen and Genevieve Goldsand. He grew up in Memphis, although he later attended Coral Gables Senior High School in Florida. His mother’s birth certificate states that his maternal grandfather was born in Turkey when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, although his family has no knowledge of any Turkish heritage.
Cohen went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1971. He continued his studies at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1973. His legal training laid the foundation for a long career as an attorney in Tennessee before he entered public office.
Path to US Politics
After completing law school, Cohen built a career as a practicing attorney in Memphis. He entered electoral politics in 1982, when he won a seat in the Tennessee State Senate. Over the next two decades, he became a leading liberal voice in state government, known for his work on healthcare expansion, civil rights, animal welfare, and consumer protection.
One of his most significant state-level achievements was leading the legislative effort to establish the Tennessee state lottery, which was created to fund college scholarships. He also championed hate-crimes legislation and other progressive causes that frequently put him at odds with more conservative colleagues in the General Assembly.
Steve Cohen Career
Early Career (1982-2006)
Cohen first ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, when 22-year incumbent Harold Ford Sr. retired. He faced Harold Ford Jr., the incumbent’s son, in the Democratic primary and lost by about 25 points. Following the defeat, he returned to the Tennessee State Senate, where he continued to serve until 2006.
In 2006, Cohen made a second run for the 9th district seat after Ford Jr. decided not to seek reelection. Despite being outspent two-to-one by his nearest rival, he won the crowded August 3 Democratic primary by a 4,000-vote margin. He went on to win the general election with 60 percent of the vote, defeating independent Jake Ford and Republican Mark White.
Congressional Tenure (2007-Present)
Since taking office in 2007, Cohen has established himself as one of the most progressive members of the Tennessee delegation. He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has consistently received one of the lowest lifetime ratings from the American Conservative Union among Tennessee lawmakers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assigned him to the House Judiciary Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, both of which were his preferred assignments.
In 2007, Cohen introduced a House resolution apologizing for African-American slavery and the Jim Crow laws that followed. The resolution passed on July 29, 2008, marking the first time a branch of the federal government had officially apologized for slavery and its aftermath. He was honored with the D. Emelio Castelar Work Recognition Award by the Vida Foundation in Madrid, Spain, for his work on the slavery apology bill and served as the keynote speaker at their international symposium on the abolition of slavery.
Major Legislative Work
Cohen has cosponsored multiple cannabis reform bills, including the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, the Marijuana Justice Act, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, the MORE Act, and the CARERS Act, which he introduced in 2015, 2017, and 2019 to legalize medical cannabis. He was the headline speaker at the Marijuana Policy Project’s annual gala in January 2010.
He also sponsored the SPEECH Act, which banned libel tourism and was signed into law by President Barack Obama in August 2010. In 2011, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed him to the Helsinki Commission, recognizing his long-standing commitment to civil rights and human rights.
Notable Events and Milestones
Cohen voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in December 2019 and voted for the article of impeachment in Trump’s second impeachment in January 2021. In 2017, he announced plans to bring forward articles of impeachment against Trump following the Charlottesville rally. He also introduced a 2020 resolution calling for the impeachment of Attorney General William Barr.
Steve Cohen Awards and Recognition
Cohen has received several awards for his public service and legal work. In 1992, he received both the Bill of Rights Award from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Bird Dog Award for Ethics from Tennessee Common Cause. He was also honored with the American Bar Association Day Award, which he dedicated to civil rights leaders Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Dr. Dorothy Height.
Other Awards and Achievements
In addition to his earlier honors, Cohen received the D. Emelio Castelar Work Recognition Award from the Vida Foundation in Madrid, Spain, for his work on the federal slavery apology. He has also been recognized for his long service on the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, an organization he helped establish.
Steve Cohen Family
Family Background and Heritage
Stephen Ira Cohen was born to Morris David Cohen and Genevieve Goldsand. Although his family has no knowledge of any Turkish heritage, his maternal grandfather was born in Turkey when the region was part of the Ottoman Empire. Cohen is a member of the Congressional Caucus on US-Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans, and he has had a complex relationship with the question of congressional recognition of the Armenian genocide, opposing such recognition on pragmatic foreign policy grounds.
Personal Life
Cohen is a longtime resident of Memphis, Tennessee. During a 2013 public moment, he explained to reporters that he had only recently learned of the existence of a daughter, Victoria Brink, after a widely reported tweet. A later DNA test revealed that John Brink, the man who raised her, was in fact her biological father.