Challenger Backed by Far-Left Group Targets Jim Cooper for Midterm Primary in Tennessee

The far-left group Justice Democrats announced Monday it is backing Odessa Kelly in her campaign to challenge Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN).

This will be the first primary challenge unveiled by Justice Democrats for the 2022 midterm cycle. Cooper is part of the “Blue Dog Coalition” in the House of Representatives. It is considered to be part of the Democrat Party that identifies as centrists. He has been disliked by progressives for years. Daily Kos floated an idea in 2013 to challenge Cooper for voting against nearly $51 billion in Hurricane Sandy aid.

Kelly previously worked as a manager at a community center at the Nashville rec center. This includes being one of the co-founders for Stand Up Nashville, a progressive group that mainly focuses on racial and economic inequality. Kelly is an openly gay black woman, as reported by Politico.

Kelly said in a press release she is the only “candidate for Congress who is committed to bold, ambitious change,” adding that “Cooper is one of the wealthiest members of Congress who takes money from corporate PACs representing weapons manufacturers and real estate developers.”

Cooper also has “no real record of progressive change in nearly 40 years. This city needs a leader who will fight for the people who make Nashville great,” according to Kelly.

Justice Democrats released an ad on behalf of Kelly explaining why she is running for Congress:

“As someone who has spent her life as a public servant and a community organizer, Odessa Kelly is exactly the kind of Democrat we need in Congress,” Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement. Cooper “has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs. He has supported cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare as recently as 2018.”

The far-left group also recruited Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to run for Congress. In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley, a 20-year member of Congress for New York’s 14th District.

The Justice Democrats also backed Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), all of whom ended in successful campaigns in unseating the sitting Democrat House members before them.