The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. The primaries were held on August 4. Following the 2016 elections, no seats changed hands, leaving the Tennessee delegation at a 7-2 Republican majority.

Overview

By district

Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee by district:

District 1

Incumbent Republican Phil Roe, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 83% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+25.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Phil Roe, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * Clint Tribble, conservative activist and YouTube personality

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Alan Bohms, executive director of the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance

Results

Independent Candidates

* Robert Franklin, U.S. Navy veteran * Paul Krane (write-in), student

General election

Endorsements

Predictions

Results

District 2

Incumbent Republican Jimmy Duncan, who had represented the district since 1989, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+20.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * John J. Duncan Jr., incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Stuart Starr, IT business owner and union organizer

Results

General election

Endorsements

Predictions

Results

District 3

Incumbent Republican

Chuck Fleischmann Charles Joseph Fleischmann ( ; born October 11, 1962) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2011. The district is based in Chattanooga and includes a large part of East Tennessee, including Oak ...

, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+16.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *

Allan Levene Allan Levene (born 23rd July 1949) is a British American information technology specialist. He is the first person to run for Congress in multiple states simultaneously. He was planning to simultaneously run for the United States House of Represe ...

, information technology specialist and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

* Geoffery Suhmer Smith

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Melody Shekari, policy analyst for the Chattanooga Department of Transportation

=Eliminated in primary

= * Michael Friedman * George Ryan Love

Endorsements

Results

General election

Campaign

Fleischmann was heavily favored to win re-election.

Endorsements

Predictions

Results

District 4

Incumbent Republican

Scott DesJarlais Scott Eugene DesJarlais ( ; born February 21, 1964) is an American politician and physician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. The district stretches across East and Middle Tennessee. He is a member of the Republican Party. E ...

, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+18.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * Grant Starrett, real estate developer and attorney

Campaign

Scandal-ridden
incumbent representative

had narrowly won his primary in 2012, and faced another competitive primary against Starrett. While DesJarlais originally trailed in fundraising, the race tightened when a mailer sent out by the Starrett campaign sparked controversy over its alleged racism.

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Steven Reynolds, manager in the construction industry

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 5

Incumbent Democrat

Jim Cooper James Hayes Shofner Cooper (born June 19, 1954) is an American lawyer, businessman, professor, and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for (based in Nashville and containing parts of Davidson ...

, who had represented the district since 2003, as well as previously between 1983 and 1995, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 62% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+5.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Stacy Reis Snyder, small business owner and songwriter

=Eliminated in primary

= * Jody Ball, businessman * John "Big John" Smith, deputy sheriff and candidate for this seat in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

=Withdrawn

= *Ronnie Holden, candidate for this seat in

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 6

Incumbent Republican

Diane Black Diane Lynn Black (née Warren; born January 16, 1951) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from January 3, 2011, to January 3, 2019. The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. A Republi ...

, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+21.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *

Joe Carr Joseph Benedict Carr (22 February 1922 – 3 June 2004) was an Irish amateur golfer. Early life Carr was born in Inchicore, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, to George and Margaret Mary "Missie" Waters (the fifth of seven children). At 10 days ol ...

, former

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

and candidate for U.S. Senate in

* Donald Strong * Tommy Hay

Campaign

Joe Carr attempted to ride anti-establishment sentiment to defeat incumbent Diane Black, who was openly considering a future run for governor.

Results

Despite a strong challenge, Black won re-election by a larger margin than expected.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *David Kent, manufacturing industry manager

=Eliminated in primary

= *Flo Matheson, nominee for

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 7

Incumbent Republican

Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Tennessee. Blackburn was first ...

, who had represented the district since 2003, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 70% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+18.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Tharon Chandler, journalist

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

Blackburn dramatically outspent Chandler and easily won re-election.

District 8

Incumbent Republican Stephen Fincher, who had represented the district since 2011, announced he would not run for re-election. He was re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+19.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * David Kustoff, former

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Tennessee

=Eliminated in primary

= * Ken Atkins, corrections officer and former car dealership owner * Hunter Baker,

Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...

professor *Dave Bault, inspector for

Terminix Terminix International Company, L.P. is one of the largest pest control companies in the world, operating in 47 states in the United States and 70+ countries around the world. It is a subsidiary of UK-based Rentokil Initial. History In 1927, E. ...

* George Flinn, radiologist and

* Brad Greer, businessman and political consultant *

Brian Kelsey Brian Kelsey (born December 22, 1977) is an American politician and former member of the Tennessee State Senate. A member of the Republican party, he was elected to represent District 31, which encompassed the following parts of Shelby County ...

, state senator * Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register of Deeds * Mark Luttrell, Shelby County Mayor * David Maldonado, businessman *David Wharton

=Withdrawn

= * Steve Basar, Shelby County Commissioner

=Declined

= * Stephen Fincher, incumbent U.S. Representative * Scott Golden, district director for Congressman Fincher and member of the Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee * Andy Holt,

* Ed Jackson, state senator * Ron Kirkland, physician and candidate for this seat in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Steve McManus,

* Mark Norris, Majority Leader of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

* John Ryder, Republican National Committee General Counsel and committee member * Bill Sanderson,

* John Stevens, state senator * Matthew Stowe, district attorney general for the 24th judicial district * Mary Wagner, Shelby County GOP Chair * Amy Weirich, Shelby County District Attorney

Results

Kustoff won the crowded Republican primary with 27% of the vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Rickey Hobson, manager at

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

=Eliminated in primary

= * Gregory Alan Frye

=Withdrawn

= *James Coffman *Erika Stotts Pearson, sports agent

=Declined

= *

Roy Herron Roy Herron (September 30, 1953 – July 9, 2023) was an American politician, attorney, and author. He was the chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. He was the Tennessee State Senator for the 24th district for 16 years and for 10 years bef ...

, former state senator, former Chair of the

Tennessee Democratic Party The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in Tennessee. The party was founded in 1826 initially as the Jacksonian democracy, Jacksonian Party. The Tennessee Democratic Party w ...

and nominee for this seat in

* Michael McCusker, Shelby County Assistant District Attorney and retired Army Major * David Vinciarelli

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 9

Incumbent Democrat

Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast * Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian * Steve Cohen (wrestler) (born 1963), South African wrestler be ...

, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 75% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+25.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * Larry Crim,

* Justin Ford, Shelby County Commission Chair * Larry Williams

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Wayne Alberson

=Withdrawn

= *Palmer Lee Harris *Ernest Lunati, candidate for this seat in

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

References

External links

U.S. House elections in Tennessee, 2016
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

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2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2016 Tennessee elections