David Kustoff

Republican Representative of Tennessee's 8th district

  • Representative

    Tennessee, district 8

    January 3, 2023 - January 3, 2025

202-225-4714

@RepDavidKustoff

kustoff.house.gov

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4

Congresses Served

4

House Terms

October 8, 1966 (58 years old)

Birthday

  • American politician and attorney
  • Served as the United States representative for a district that includes the bulk of West Tennessee, with a significant population in the eastern part of the Memphis area
  • Served as a United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 2006 to 2008
  • One of two Jewish Republicans in Congress
  • Born and raised in the Memphis area, graduated from White Station High School
  • Attended the University of Memphis, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a law degree
  • Opened a law firm with Jim Strickland, who later became mayor of Memphis
  • Became active in politics in the 1990s, chairing the Republican Party of Shelby County and serving as George W. Bush’s campaign chair in Tennessee for the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections
  • Criticized Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott in 2002 for comments that were seen as harmful to Republican outreach to minorities
  • Ran for the Republican nomination in Tennessee’s 7th congressional district in 2002 but lost in the primary
  • Prosecuted Operation Tennessee Waltz as U.S. Attorney, leading to the imprisonment of John Ford and others
  • Returned to private practice shortly before the 2008 election
  • Announced candidacy for Tennessee’s 8th congressional district in 2016 after redistricting and won, endorsed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
  • Member of the Republican Study Committee
  • Voted for the American Health Care Act in May 2017
  • Supported Trump’s 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries
  • Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act and the Equality Act
  • Signed an amicus brief supporting Texas v. Pennsylvania, contesting the 2020 presidential election results
  • Married to Roberta Kustoff, with whom he has two children, and lives in Germantown, a suburb of Memphis
  • Served on the board of directors of BankTennessee and as a member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission