James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper (born July 19, 1954) is a politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee, currently representing the state's 5th Congressional district (map) in the U.S. House.
Cooper was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee and he graduated from the University of North Carolina, University of Oxford and the Harvard University Law School. He is the son of former governor of Tennessee Prentice Cooper. Cooper was elected the House of Representatives from the Fourth District as a Democrat in 1982, handily defeating Cissy Baker, daughter of long-time Tennessee political figure Howard Baker. This race was closely watched for several reasons. This district was widely regarded as the one created as a result of reapportionment stemming from the 1980 census, which gave Tennessee an additional representative in the House, and as being potentially competitive based on the typical party preferences of the areas involved. Beyond the appeal of the offspring of two very prominent Tennessee political figures running against each other, the newly-created Fourth District ran diagonally across the state from almost one end to the other, which many felt would make whoever won it almost instantly a statewide figure with a high potential for election to statewide office in the future. Cooper was elected to four subsequent terms with little substantive opposition, and served in the House until 1995. In 1994, Cooper ran for the United States Senate for the seat left open when Al Gore was elected Vice President, winning the Democratic nomination, but lost to Republican attorney and actor Fred Thompson in an overwhelming landslide in the general election, receiving well under 40% of the vote. He then moved to Nashville.
After Fifth District Congressman Bob Clement decided to run for Thompson's Senate seat in 2002, Cooper filed to run for Congress from that district, where his residence was now located. Cooper was able to win a hard-fought primary election over several other prominent local Democrats and the general election in November to return to Congress after an eight year absence. Cooper's political future, at least in the near term, seems secure as his current district has never elected a Republican since Reconstruction, and his most recent opponent conducted only a token campaign and dissavowed the national Republican ticket. It seems unlikely that he will attract a well-funded, serious Republican opponent in the near future.