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An outspoken progressive<\/span> running for Congress in the Tennessee district at the center of Republicans\u2019 efforts to sabotage voting rights and maintain control of the House earned the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson found himself the unexpected front-runner in the Democratic primary when two-decade incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen dropped out<\/a> last month, after new gerrymandered maps throttled his chances of winning reelection. The redrawn 9th Congressional District<\/a> and sudden shakeup mean that rather than running against the last Democrat representing Tennessee in the House, Pearson is facing a Republican machine bent on delivering an all-GOP delegation for President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n The new map hurts the chances for Pearson \u2014 or any Democrat \u2014 to win in November, but the candidate said he\u2019s running on a platform focused on wealth, income inequality, and corporate overreach that aims to appeal across party lines. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a number of disaffected Republican voters, you\u2019ve got a number of distraught MAGA voters, and you\u2019ve got fired-up Democrats, which is a perfect recipe for success for us,\u201d Pearson told The Intercept. \u201cBecause our tent is big enough for everybody who is feeling that this status quo was rigged and broken against working-class folk, and want to see a future that is more just.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a message similar to the one that buoyed Sanders\u2019s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs billionaires and Big Tech take more and more control over our lives and our government, we need leaders like Justin J. Pearson who have the experience and track record of standing up to the rich and power-hungry elites,\u201d Sanders said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tennessee is one of several Republican-led states where officials rushed to protect Trump and the GOP\u2019s chances of keeping power in what is expected to be a particularly difficult midterm cycle<\/a> for Republicans mired in an unpopular war on Iran and an ever-increasing cost of living. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April to gut a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Trump said he spoke<\/a> with Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who called the next day<\/a> for a special session<\/a> to redraw the maps.\u00a0<\/p>\n Using a practice known as \u201ccracking,\u201d the new map breaks the majority-Black district<\/a> concentrated in and around Memphis\u00a0across three red districts, diluting the power of Black voters<\/a> in the area. Pearson said he believed the antidemocratic move, while detrimental to his chances, was unpopular with voters.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people were really upset about the gerrymandered maps,\u201d Pearson said. \u201cI had about half a dozen Republicans who said they\u2019re going to be voting in our campaign and I\u2019d be the first Democrat they\u2019d be voting for in their lifetimes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pearson, who launched his campaign against Cohen in October with the backing of the progressive outfit Justice Democrats, received Sanders\u2019s endorsement the day after getting one from the Working Families Party, and four days after he returned from a listening tour in rural and Republican counties in the newly drawn district. His campaign said more than 750 people attended the gatherings.<\/p>\n Attendees expressed frustration with being unable to afford housing, healthcare, and the things they need to live their daily lives, Pearson said. He said voters couldn\u2019t afford \u201cmore of the same\u201d when running against Cohen, and has now directed that message at his likely Republican opponent, state Sen. Brent Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of them were millionaires, both of them benefited from a status quo that\u2019s broken,\u201d Pearson told The Intercept. \u201cBoth of them don\u2019t like me.\u201d<\/p>\n