akashic
1876–2024
Congressional District 5·Tennessee

Tennessee 5th Congressional District voted Democratic for a century; it now votes Republican by 16 points.

Nashville's urban core anchors one of the South's most Democratic districts

18762024·38 elections
TN
Latest
R+16
in 2024
Archetype
Old Confederacy
since the recent cycles
Population
646,293
2024 ACS

Tennessee 5th Congressional District, Tennessee: Old Confederacy district. In 2024, voted R+16%. Democratic peak: D+72 in 1936.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+16MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
Old ConfederacyAkashic typology
Population
646,2932024 5-year
Median household income
$91,3732024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
70.5%2024 5-year
Black
14.0%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
9.7%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+72 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+28 in 1972MIT Election Lab
R
OGLES, AndyCongress 119 · Republican

Predecessors: COOPER, James Hayes Shofner (2021–2023), COOPER, James Hayes Shofner (2019–2021), COOPER, James Hayes Shofner (2017–2019), COOPER, James Hayes Shofner (2015–2017)

Source · Voteview / Lewis, Poole, Rosenthal et al. (CC-BY).

6 counties · 1 D · 5 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−15.6%
124,811172,113302,557
R
−8.0%
132,650156,279295,850
R
−12.9%
93,920123,733230,914
R
−14.2%
91,986122,994218,637
R
−8.4%
102,028120,914225,669
R
−11.5%
88,822112,140202,261
D
+1.4%
82,46480,129165,360
D
+6.5%
73,72764,233147,001
D
+9.0%
71,17757,965146,340
R
−12.5%
52,69467,840121,210
R
−11.6%
53,26667,371121,339
D
+17.1%
64,06144,871112,437
D
+25.3%
62,74537,153101,099
R
−28.0%
27,38449,60379,384
O
+1.3%
25,45024,29785,838
D
+30.8%
49,68526,30675,991
D
+14.6%
39,37729,29269,243
D
+28.7%
38,45021,13860,337
D
+25.7%
36,77321,72058,608
D
+40.1%
17,8155,70330,240
D
+57.1%
22,6116,14628,818
D
+62.0%
22,6835,30828,038
D
+71.8%
20,0133,24023,345
D
+61.4%
17,2424,03221,516
D
+12.1%
11,5609,06520,642
D
+49.8%
11,2023,51415,442
D
+30.5%
12,1346,43118,695
D
+47.1%
9,9583,53713,638
D
+55.2%
10,1772,42514,056
D
+49.0%
9,6183,22013,052
D
+48.5%
9,8663,27013,599
D
+33.8%
10,9915,31116,795
D
+29.4%
13,4057,22621,010
D
+41.0%
11,1474,15017,070
No data
No data
No data
No data

U.S. Senate

Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
YearWonD %R %Total
2024R34.2%63.8%3,007,608
2020R35.2%62.2%2,959,761
2018R43.9%54.7%2,243,740
2014R31.9%61.9%1,374,065
2012R30.4%64.9%2,321,477
2008R31.6%65.1%2,424,585
2006R48.0%50.7%1,833,695
2002R44.3%54.3%1,642,432
2000R32.2%65.1%1,928,613
1996R36.8%61.4%1,778,664
1994R42.1%56.4%1,480,391
1990D67.7%29.8%783,922
1988D65.1%34.5%1,567,181
1984D60.7%33.8%1,648,036
1982D61.9%38.1%1,259,785
1978R40.3%55.5%1,157,094
1976D52.5%47.0%1,432,046

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.7%
American
11.3%
German
9.9%
Irish
8.9%
Italian
2.9%
Scottish
2.3%
French
1.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.4%
speak English only
Spanish7.0%
Other Indo-European2.0%
Other languages1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Baptist
16.3%
Other Christian
15.8%
Catholic & Orthodox
8.7%
Methodist
5.5%
Mainline Protestant
3.6%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.8%
Non-Christian
1.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 45.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Tennessee's 5th district, centered on Nashville, posted an 18-point Democratic presidential margin in 2024 — an outlier in a state that has trended decisively Republican at nearly every other level of federal and statewide competition.

The shift began with civil rights. 2004 marked the realignment in Tennessee 5th Congressional District, by a twelve points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at twenty-eight points in 1972. The 2024 margin was sixteen points.

The political shift has tracked, in Tennessee 5th Congressional District, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 71% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $91,373, and a 10% poverty rate describe the demographic context.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Congressional District 5, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cd/4705/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Congressional District 5, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Congressional District 5, Tennessee voted Republican by 15.6 points (R+16), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 302,557 votes cast, 124,811 went Democratic and 172,113 went Republican.
What is Congressional District 5, Tennessee's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Congressional District 5, Tennessee as a "Old Confederacy" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 24 times, Republican 9 times, and other 1 times.
When did Congressional District 5, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Congressional District 5, Tennessee voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Congressional District 5, Tennessee?
Congressional District 5, Tennessee has a population of 646,293 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Congressional District 5, Tennessee?
Median household income in Congressional District 5, Tennessee is $91,373 — above the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Congressional District 5, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Congressional District 5, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 9 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Old Confederacy" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.