Jesse Chism

Jesse Chism (born March 4, 1980) is an American politician. He is a Democrat representing District 85 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Jesse Chism
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 85th district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 6, 2018[1]
Preceded by	Johnnie Turner
Personal details
Born	(1980-03-04) March 4, 1980 (age 45)[2]
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Memphis, Tennessee[3]
Alma mater	Overton High School Morehouse College Union University[2][4]

Early life and education

Chism studied in Overton High School.^[4] In 2003, Chism received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Morehouse College with a focus in Marketing /Economics. In 2012, he received a Master of Arts (MA), Education from Union University.^[4]

He is a former high school teacher with Memphis City Schools.^[5][6]

He previously worked as a Disaster Inspector for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Between 2013 and 2016, he was the Program Director for the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers Association.^[7]

He is currently a real estate investor.^[8] He is the president of Chism Consulting.^[9]

Political career

In 2018, former District 85 representative Johnnie Turner announced that she would not seek another term.^[10] Chism ran for his seat, won a four-way Democratic primary with 35.7% of the vote, and was unopposed in the general election. He successfully ran for re-election in 2020.^[1] He run for re-election in 2024.^[11]

As of April 2024, Chism serves on the following committees:^[2][4]

• Education Instruction
• Education Instruction of 1st Extraordinary Session
• Government Operations Committee
• Government Operations Committee of 1st Extraordinary Session
• State Government Committee
• State Government Committee of 1st Extraordinary Session
• Departments & Agencies Subcommittee
• Departments & Agencies Subcommittee of 1st Extraordinary Session
• Education Instruction Subcommittee
• Education Instruction Subcommittee of 1st Extraordinary Session
• Joint Judiciary and Government

Electoral record

2018 Democratic primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 85^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jesse Chism	3,217	35.7%
	Democratic	Ricky Dixon	2,743	30.4%
	Democratic	Lynnette Williams	2,620	29.1%
	Democratic	Brett Williams	433	4.8%

2020 Democratic primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 85^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jesse Chism	6,744	81.9%
	Democratic	Alvin Crook	1,482	18.1%

Honors & Awards

Chism has been recognized in the following areas.

• Fair Fight Fellowship, 2021
• Center for Advancement of Leadership Skills Scholar, 2021
• Chairman of Freshmen Democrats 2019-2020
• Emerging Leaders, 2019