first time Herenton, elected to a record five terms as mayor, lost a race for public office. This all but assured Cohen a third term. In the general election, Cohen defeated Republican challenger Charlotte Bergmann, taking 74% of the vote to Bergmann's 25%. 2012 Cohen was challenged in the Democratic Primary by Tomeka Hart, an African-American member of the Memphis School Board and Memphis Urban League President who was undefeated in elections up to that point. Cohen won the primary with 89.2% of the vote on August 2, 2012—the highest vote total in the district in recent history and the highest percentage vote for a white candidate running for office in a majority African-American district in history. Obama endorsed Cohen on April 5, 2012, saying, "Congressman Steve Cohen has worked with me on jobs bills, health care, and other issues of importance to the middle class. He also never fails to pitch me on the city of Memphis, whether it's Booker T. Washington High School, Memphis basketball, or barbecue. I urge you to vote for Steve Cohen, a tireless advocate for the 9th district". In the general election, Cohen defeated Republican businessman George Flinn, winning 75% of the vote. 2014 Cohen defeated prominent African American attorney Ricky Wilkins in the Democratic primary by a two-to-one margin, winning every precinct. 2016 Cohen defeated his Republican opponent, Wayne Alberson, in the general election, 78.7% to 18.9%. 2018 Cohen won the Democratic primary against two opponents with almost 91% of the vote. He defeated Republican Charlotte Bergmann and Independent candidate Leo AwGoWhat in the general election with 80% of the vote to Bergmann's 19.2% and AwGoWhat's 0.8%. 2020 Receiving almost 91% of the vote, Cohen won the Democratic primary against two opponents, AwGoWhat and Corey Strong. In the general election, he won 77% of the vote, defeating Bergmann and three independent candidates (Dennis Clark, Bobby Lyons and Charles Shappley). 2022 Cohen was reelected. Tenure Cohen is easily the most progressive member of the Tennessee delegation, and arguably one of the most progressive congressmen ever to represent the state. He has a lifetime rating of 4.3 from the American Conservative Union; for most of his tenure he has had the lowest ACU rating of any lawmaker from Tennessee. He is the first Jew to represent Tennessee in Congress, the first white Democrat to represent a significant portion of Memphis since freshman George W. Grider