Poll shows Cohen in little danger

A new poll shows Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) might not have to worry about his primary fate this cycle, after all.

The Yacoubian Research poll, conducted for WMC-TV in Memphis, shows Cohen beating Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton 65-14. And 84 percent of voters tagged Cohen’s job performance as either excellent or good.

Some people haven’t taken Herenton’s entreaties about the congressional race seriously, and it appears that voters aren’t either. Given his near 20 years as mayor of a big city, he should be doing better right now if he is to have much of a shot at taking Cohen down.

Cohen continues to draw primary challenges because he is a white man representing a majority-black district, but after winning with around 80 percent of the vote in August and then polling like this, it may be time to consider him an entrenched incumbent.

-Aaron Blake