Biography:

Jim Cooper is a former Rhodes scholar who earned his law degree at Harvard. Raised in Shelbyville, Tenn., he now lives in Nashville with his wife, Martha, whom he married in 1985. They have three children: Mary, Jamie and Hayes.

He earned a bachelor's degree in history and economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in politics and economics from Oxford University. He earned his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Cooper served a dozen years in the U.S. House before his tour as 4th District representative ended with an unsuccessful bid for the Senate in 1994. He returned to the House winning the 5th District seat in 2002.

Past Campaigns:

Jim Cooper served six terms as the 4th District representative from Shelbyville before vying for the Senate in 1994 _ a race he lost to Republican Fred Thompson.

In a political twist, the 5th District seat opened when incumbent Bob Clement chose to campaign for the Senate seat vacated by Thompson, who did not seek re-election.

Cooper was elected to Congress in 2002, receiving 64 percent of the vote.

Election Information by State: Select a State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware DC Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Mass. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hamp. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming -------------------------   Candidate Search Find candidate running for federal and state offices. Candidate Last Name State (Optional) All Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware DC Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Mass. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hamp. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming ------------------------- Office Type (Optional) All President U.S. Senate U.S. House Governor State Office Local Office