# Jesse Chism

Jesse Chism is a Democratic member of the Tennessee House for district 85.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Tennessee House, district 85
- Serving since: 2018-11-06
- Current term: TN 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/108691a2-9f24-41c5-b4c8-606c7cdf036b

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/108691a2-9f24-41c5-b4c8-606c7cdf036b (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Chism voted against the majority of Tennessee House Democrats 132 times; party unity 82%, in the bottom 5% of the Tennessee House (average 96.3%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.33 (standard error 0.01), from 58 donors and 1,090 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 89% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (TN 2025–26 session)

4,510 roll calls. Attendance 99.9% (Tennessee House 99.1%). Party unity 82% (96.3%). 132 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-06 · voted nay · FLOOR VOTE: REFER TO COMMITTEE 5/6/2026 Passed · HJR 8 Memorials, Death - U.S. Senator James Ralph Sasser - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HJR8/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 4 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1209 Memorials, Academic Achievement - Max Christopher Collins, Salutatorian, Creek Wood High School - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1209/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 3 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1240 Memorials, Interns - Aaron Sullivan - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1240/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 4 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1208 Memorials, Academic Achievement - Christopher Heath Foster, Valedictorian, Creek Wood High School - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1208/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 4 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1220 Memorials, Academic Achievement - Keely Nicole Melton, Valedictorian, McEwen High School - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1220/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 4 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1198 Memorials, Academic Achievement - Kylie Miller, Valedictorian, McNairy Central High School - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1198/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SB 1849 Local Government, General - As enacted, enacts the "Essential Governmental Employee Housing Act of 2026"; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 5;… · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SB1849/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 2 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · HJR 1657 Memorials, Academic Achievement - Dahee Yoon, Salutatorian, Cookeville High School - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HJR1657/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: MOTION TO ADOPT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT 4/23/2026 Passed · HB 1707 Immigration - As enacted, requires, until February 1, 2029, each court to cooperate with the U.S. department of homeland security and federal… · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HB1707/
- 2026-04-23 · voted yea · FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR 4 PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/23/2026 Passed · SJR 1169 Memorials, Personal Occasion - Faye Colyer, 105th birthday - · pass · https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/SJR1169/

## Legislation (TN 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 47 bills: 42 reached committee, 32 passed one chamber, 4 passed both, 4 became law. Cosponsored 0. 74.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Tennessee House 71.0%; rank 50 of 97).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 297: Memorials, Public Service - Representative G.A. Hardaway - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-24) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR297/
- HR 278: Memorials, Recognition - Portia Moore - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR278/
- HR 274: Memorials, Recognition - Jerrad Taylor - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR274/
- HR 277: Memorials, Recognition - Dr. Marilyn Peete Hilliard - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR277/
- HR 291: Memorials, Recognition - Denise Williams-Greene - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR291/
- HR 284: Memorials, Recognition - Pastor Edrin Alexander - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR284/
- HR 283: Memorials, Recognition - Farra Hych - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR283/
- HR 276: Memorials, Recognition - Tony Pree - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR276/
- HR 272: Memorials, Recognition - Dr. Levonna Davis - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR272/
- HR 285: Memorials, Recognition - Devin Banks - (passed one chamber, 2026-04-23) https://openstates.org/tn/bills/114/HR285/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $64.2K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 82% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/legislatorinfo/member.aspx?district=H85
- Campaign site: https://www.jessechism.com/
- X: https://x.com/jessechism
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votejessechism85/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jesse.chism.71
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesse.chism.71/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-chism-ba730b44/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/108691a2-9f24-41c5-b4c8-606c7cdf036b