Elections in Tennessee

Elections in Tennessee are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Statewide legislative referrals and referendums may also be on the ballot in some elections. Tennessee is one of thirteen states that holds its presidential primaries on Super Tuesday.^[1]

Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states that require voters to present a form of photo identification.^[2] In a 2020 study, Tennessee was ranked as the 5th hardest state for citizens to vote in.^[3]

Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the Democratic Solid South, but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state.^[4] During this time, East Tennessee was heavily Republican and the western two thirds mostly voted Democratic, with the latter dominating the state.^[5] This division was related to the state's pattern of Unionist and Confederate loyalism during the Civil War.^[5]

Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party.^[6]^[7] Republicans currently hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, a majority of Congressional seats, and the state legislature. Democratic strength is largely concentrated in Nashville, Memphis, and parts of Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Clarksville. Some suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.

Presidential

List of presidential elections in Tennessee from 1836-present.

United States presidential election results for Tennessee^[8]^[9]
Year	Republican / Whig		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	1,966,865	64.19%	1,056,265	34.47%	40,812	1.33%
2020	1,852,475	60.66%	1,143,711	37.45%	57,665	1.89%
2016	1,522,925	60.72%	870,695	34.72%	114,407	4.56%
2012	1,462,330	59.42%	960,709	39.04%	37,865	1.54%
2008	1,479,178	56.85%	1,087,437	41.79%	35,367	1.36%
2004	1,383,336	56.81%	1,035,160	42.51%	16,453	0.68%
2000	1,061,949	51.15%	981,720	47.28%	32,512	1.57%
1996	863,530	45.59%	909,146	48.00%	121,429	6.41%
1992	841,300	42.43%	933,521	47.08%	207,817	10.48%
1988	947,233	57.89%	679,794	41.55%	9,223	0.56%
1984	990,212	57.84%	711,714	41.57%	10,067	0.59%
1980	787,761	48.70%	783,051	48.41%	46,804	2.89%
1976	633,969	42.94%	825,879	55.94%	16,498	1.12%
1972	813,147	67.70%	357,293	29.75%	30,742	2.56%
1968	472,592	37.85%	351,233	28.13%	424,792	34.02%
1964	508,965	44.49%	634,947	55.50%	34	0.00%
1960	556,577	52.92%	481,453	45.77%	13,762	1.31%
1956	462,288	49.21%	456,507	48.60%	20,609	2.19%
1952	446,147	49.99%	443,710	49.71%	2,696	0.30%
1948	202,914	36.87%	270,402	49.14%	76,967	13.99%
1944	200,311	39.22%	308,707	60.45%	1,674	0.33%
1940	169,153	32.35%	351,601	67.25%	2,069	0.40%
1936	146,520	30.81%	327,083	68.78%	1,935	0.41%
1932	126,752	32.48%	259,473	66.49%	4,031	1.03%
1928	195,388	53.76%	167,343	46.04%	742	0.20%
1924	130,728	43.54%	158,682	52.86%	10,810	3.60%
1920	219,829	51.29%	206,558	48.19%	2,239	0.52%
1916	116,223	42.70%	153,280	56.31%	2,687	0.99%
1912	60,475	24.00%	133,021	52.80%	58,437	23.20%
1908	117,977	45.87%	135,608	52.73%	3,595	1.40%
1904	105,363	43.40%	131,653	54.23%	5,734	2.36%
1900	123,108	44.95%	145,240	53.03%	5,512	2.01%
1896	148,683	46.33%	167,168	52.09%	5,052	1.57%
1892	100,537	37.83%	136,468	51.36%	28,727	10.81%
1888	138,978	45.76%	158,699	52.26%	6,017	1.98%
1884	124,101	47.74%	133,770	51.45%	2,107	0.81%
1880	107,677	44.26%	129,569	53.26%	6,017	2.47%
1876	89,566	40.21%	133,177	59.79%	0	0.00%
1872	85,655	47.84%	93,391	52.16%	0	0.00%
1868	56,628	68.43%	26,129	31.57%	0	0.00%
1864	30,000	85.71%	5,000	14.29%	0	0.00%
1860	0	0.00%	11,281	7.72%	134,825	92.28%
1856	0	0.00%	69,704	52.18%	63,878	47.82%
1852	58,586	50.73%	56,900	49.27%	0	0.00%
1848	64,321	52.52%	58,142	47.48%	0	0.00%
1844	60,040	50.05%	59,917	49.95%	0	0.00%
1840	60,194	55.66%	47,951	44.34%	0	0.00%
1836	36,027	57.92%	26,170	42.08%	0	0.00%

Presidential primaries

Republican primary

Democratic primary

National legislative

List of national legislative elections in Tennessee from 2000-present.

Senate elections

House of Representatives elections

Gubernatorial

List of gubernatorial elections in Tennessee from 2002-present.

State legislative

State Senate elections

State House elections

Ballot propositions

Local elections

Davidson County elections

Nashville Mayoral elections

Nashville measures

Hamilton County elections

Countywide elections

Chattanooga elections

Knox County elections

Countywide elections

Knoxville elections

Montgomery County elections

Madison County elections

Rutherford County elections

Shelby County elections

Countywide elections

Memphis elections

Elections by year

References

^ "Super Tuesday 2020". US Presidential Election News. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ "Voter Identification Requirements". ncsl.org. National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
^ J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 19 (4). doi:10.1089/elj.2020.0666. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ Langsdon 2000, p. x.
^ ^a ^b Hunt, Keel (2018). Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0-8265-2241-2 – via Google Books.
^ Doble, Rob (December 24, 2020). "Analysis: The polarization express". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
^ Clouse, Allie (November 6, 2020). "As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Tennessee". US Election Atlas. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (1864-11-18). "Chicago tribune. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1864–1872, November 18, 1864, Image 2". ISSN 2572-9977. Retrieved 2021-12-05.

Works cited

Langsdon, Phillip R. (2000). Tennessee: A Political History. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillboro Press. ISBN 9781577361251 – via Internet Archive.

External links

Tennessee at Ballotpedia
Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Tennessee", Voting & Elections Toolkits
"Tennessee: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
"League of Women Voters of Tennessee". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
"State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020

[ST2020-1] "Super Tuesday 2020". US Presidential Election News. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[2] "Voter Identification Requirements". ncsl.org. National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved May 25, 2021.

[3] J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 19 (4). doi:10.1089/elj.2020.0666. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[FOOTNOTELangsdon2000x-4] Langsdon 2000, p. x.

[hunt122-5] Hunt, Keel (2018). Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0-8265-2241-2 – via Google Books.

[6] Doble, Rob (December 24, 2020). "Analysis: The polarization express". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

[knoxnews1120222-7] Clouse, Allie (November 6, 2020). "As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

[8] Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Tennessee". US Election Atlas. Retrieved October 26, 2022.

[9] Humanities, National Endowment for the (1864-11-18). "Chicago tribune. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1864–1872, November 18, 1864, Image 2". ISSN 2572-9977. Retrieved 2021-12-05.

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