Former member of Congress · last served 111th Congress
John S. Tanner
John Tanner was a Democratic U.S. representative from Tennessee, first elected to Congress in 1989, who sponsored 3 bills that became law (101st–111th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
Recent votes
No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.
5 most recent bills
- H.Res. 528 Commending the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies for its efforts to promote peace, stability and security throughout North America…Dec 2, 2010 · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- H.Res. 527 Commending the NATO School for its critical support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) efforts to promote global peace, stability, and security.Dec 2, 2010 · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- H.R. 4918 Redistricting Transparency Act of 2010Jun 15, 2010 · Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
- H.R. 4532 Social Security Disability Applicants' Access to Professional Representation Act of 2010Feb 27, 2010 · Became Public Law No: 111-142.
- H.R. 4218 No Social Security Benefits for Prisoners Act of 2009Dec 15, 2009 · Became Public Law No: 111-115.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 3325 (111th) WIPA and PABSS Reauthorization Act of 2009Became law
- H.Res. 152 (111th) Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States remains committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Passed a chamber
- H.R. 3087 (110th) A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress reports on the status of planning for the redeployment of the Armed Forces from Iraq and to…Passed a chamber
- H.R. 2730 (105th) To designate the Federal building located at 309 North Church Street in Dyersburg, Tennessee, as the "Jere Cooper Federal Building".Passed a chamber
- H.R. 987 (110th) NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007Passed a chamber
- H.Res. 40 (111th) Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee to hold periodic hearings on the topic of waste, fraud, abuse, or…Passed a chamber
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Tanner has won
Rep. Tanner has won 11 U.S. House elections (1988–2008). Of the contested races, margins ran from 24.9 to 77.9 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Tennessee’s 8th district done while Rep. Tanner served?
2005 to 2010 in TN-8: typical household income was down 5% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was up 4.8 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Tennessee’s 8th district during Tanner’s time representing it (1989 to 2011). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
One set of district lines. TN-8 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Tanner’s term so far (2005 to 2010) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
111th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 15 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 15 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 0 | None listed |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a committee report listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a Congress.gov note | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 111th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.