WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson told some of the nation’s best-known Black journalists and media leaders Wednesday that national Democrats should not write off Black candidates running in the South, pointing to a recent poll showing him 4 percentage points behind in a congressional district Republicans redrew this year to favor their party.

Veteran journalist Joy-Ann Reid, who joined Pearson on the panel as part of Congressional Black Caucus week, said assumptions about whether Democrats can compete in places like Tennessee can influence media coverage and where national political organizations invest.

“The media covers the South as someplace only Republicans can win,” Reid said. “Anybody can win if enough people vote for them.”

“When this young man decided he was going to run for Congress, the immediate thought inside of Democratic officialdom was, ‘Well, he can’t win. That’s Tennessee, and so the spending won’t go there,’” Reid said.

A Hart Research poll conducted in September found Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor leading Pearson 48% to 44% among 400 likely voters in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. The survey, the only publicly available poll of the race, was conducted for Tennessee Rise PAC, a Democratic-aligned group supporting Pearson.

Republican lawmakers redrew Tennessee’s congressional map during a May special session, eliminating the state’s only majority-Black congressional district and splitting Memphis and Shelby County among three districts. An analysis by Inside Elections found the newly configured 9th District would have supported President Donald Trump by 21 percentage points in the 2024 election.

Pearson faces Taylor in the Nov. 3 general election. Independents Dennis Clark and Michelle Davis Head are also on the ballot.

Independent and Black media critical for midterms

Pearson and Reid spoke during “Reclaiming Our Narrative,” a panel hosted by URL Media, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Washington Association of Black Journalists during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference.

The discussion examined the role of independent and Black media in covering the 2026 midterms. URL Media President Sara Lomax moderated the panel, which also included Don Lemon, Errin Haines, Lauren Williams and Alexis McGill Johnson.

Washington Association of Black Journalists President Phillip Lewis pointed to Tennessee’s 2023 legislative expulsions as an example of how independent and Black media can bring national attention to local political developments.

Lomax asked Pearson about differences between mainstream and Black media coverage after Republicans expelled him and Rep. Justin Jones, a Nashville Democrat, from the Tennessee House in 2023 following a gun-control protest.

Pearson said Black media placed the expulsions within a longer history of Black political representation, including the Georgia House’s refusal to seat civil rights activist Julian Bond in 1966.

“I think the lens by which a lot of Black media started to pay attention to what was going on in Tennessee was yes, this is an affront on democracy in the now, but it is also a part of a deep-seated history in our country,” Pearson said. “These moments are connected to a long lineage and the way that we articulate that and speak about that can help us find our way out of it. That’s the perspective that Black media was able to provide that no one else could.”

‘Memphis no longer has a congressional district’

Pearson turned to the congressional map that transformed the district where he is running.

“Memphis no longer has a congressional district; it’s stretched across 200 miles,” Pearson said. “I’m still running in that district for District Nine now. 191 miles, 15 counties, majority rural, 32% Black, 43% people of color.”

Pearson told the group his campaign is focusing on economic concerns shared by voters across the district.

“The message that we are sharing is really simple, we have to build an economy that works for everybody, not just the billionaires,” he said. “If you’re in rural Giles County or you’re in the center of Memphis, Tennessee, you are struggling. Gas is high, groceries are high, wages are low.”

Reid discusses national investment in Tennessee, the South

Reid said Pearson’s campaign illustrates how perceptions of Southern states can affect political investment.

“Does the Democratic Party want the seats? Yes,” Reid said. “Do they want Black Power? Because that’s a different question.”

Pearson pointed to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, which provides campaign support to selected Democratic candidates.

“There are no Black candidates from the South on the DCCC Red to Blue list,” Pearson said. “We are building something pretty extraordinary, and we are fighting with all we’ve got to be on that list.”

The DCCC expanded the program to 40 candidates on Sept. 15. Pearson is not currently among them.