2018 Tennessee Elections

Tennessee state elections in 2018 were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, governorship, Tennessee Senate, Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as general local elections were held on August 2, 2018.

United States Congress

Senate

Incumbent Republican senator Bob Corker opted to retire instead of running for a third term. Republican U.S. representative Marsha Blackburn won the open seat, defeating former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen.

The primaries took place on August 2, 2018, with Blackburn and Bredesen winning their respective party nominations.

Results

August 2, 2018, primary results

House of Representatives

Tennessee elected nine U.S. representatives, each representing one of Tennessee's nine congressional districts.

Results

Source:

Gubernatorial

Incumbent Republican governor Bill Haslam was term-limited, and was prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. Republican candidate Bill Lee was elected with 59.6% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee and former Nashville mayor Karl Dean.

The primaries took place on August 2, 2018, with Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean winning their respective party nominations.

Results

August 2, 2018, primary results

State legislature

State Senate

Results by senate districts

Winners:

Elections for 18 of the 33 seats in Tennessee's State Senate were held on November 6, 2018. There were two open seats.

After this election, Republicans had 28 seats while Democrats had five seats.

Closest race

This race was decided by a margin of under 10%:

State House of Representatives

Results by State House districts

Winners:

The election of all 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives occurred on November 6, 2018.

Republicans won 73 seats, while Democrats won 26 seats. Democrats gained a seat during this election.

Local elections

Hamilton County

Incumbent Republican Mayor Jim Coppinger won with 60.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Aloyse Brown.

Results

May 1, 2018, primary results

Knox County

Republican businessman and professional wrestler, Glenn Jacobs (better known by his ring name, Kane), won the election with 66.4% of the vote against Democrat Linda Haney.

Incumbent mayor Tim Burchett, first elected in 2010, was term-limited and could not run for a third consecutive term. Instead, he successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, to succeed the retiring 30-year incumbent representative, Jimmy Duncan.

Results

May 1, 2018, primary results

Maury County

Incumbent Mayor Charlie Norman lost re-election to Andy Ogles. Ogles obtained the Republican Party's nomination during a caucus, forcing Mayor Norman, a Republican, to run as an Independent.

Shelby County

Incumbent Republican Mayor Mark Luttrell was term-limited and was prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term; he instead ran for congress. Democratic candidate Lee Harris was elected mayor with 55.3% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee David Lenoir.

Results

May 1, 2018, primary results

Clarksville

Incumbent Democratic mayor Kim McMillan ran for re-election, but lost her bid to a third term, losing by 213 votes to Democrat Joe Pitts in a four-way race.

Murfreesboro

Incumbent Republican mayor Shane McFarland ran for re-election and won a second term in office with an uncontested race.

Nashville

David Briley, a Democrat who became interim mayor after the resignation of Megan Barry, won outright without a runoff election.

Former Mayor Megan Barry resigned on March 6, 2018, for embezzlement on March 6, 2018, so the Davidson County Election Commission scheduled an election for August 2, 2018 to coincide with the state primary elections, school board elections and the election of several other municipal officials. However, mayoral candidate Ludye Wallace sued on the basis of state law (T.C.A. § 2-14-102) and a 2007 Metropolitan government charter amendment, both requiring an earlier election if the next general metropolitan election was more than twelve months away. The Tennessee Supreme Court agreed with Wallace's argument, unanimously ordering a mayoral election between May 21 and May 25.

Results

Nashville ballot measure

Let's Move Nashville was a local referendum in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 1, 2018, that would have funded the construction of a mass transit system under the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority in Davidson County. The $8.9 billion plan would have included several light rail and bus rapid transit lines along major corridors, to be built between 2018 and 2032. The plan was proposed in 2017 by Mayor Megan Barry under the Tennessee IMPROVE Act and supported by some Nashville politicians and businesses.

The plan would have included of light rail and of bus rapid transit, as well as additional funding for local buses and the existing Music City Star commuter rail line. The light rail element of the plan would have been built in phases between 2026 and 2032, while the bus rapid transit lines would open in 2023. The plan was defeated in part due to an opposition campaign organized by Americans for Prosperity.

See also

* Elections in Tennessee
* Political party strength in Tennessee
* Tennessee Democratic Party
* Tennessee Republican Party
* Government of Tennessee
* 2018 United States elections

References

{{2018 United States elections

2018 Tennessee elections
Tennessee