The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the next

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

, alongside other state and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. Incumbent Republican governor

Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (March 15, 1936 – August 27, 2023) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional dis ...

was term-limited and was prohibited by the

Constitution of Tennessee The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee. The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, ...

from seeking a third consecutive term. To succeed him, former Democratic

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Mayor

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (; born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in ...

, who had run against Sundquist in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, narrowly defeated Republican

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the ...

Van Hilleary in the general election. With this win, Bredesen flipped the state back into Democratic control, with the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

also being controlled by Democrats.

Republican primary

Candidates

* Van Hilleary, Representative from

Tennessee's 4th congressional district The 4th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in southern Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Scott DesJarlais since January 2011. Most of the district is rural, but many residents live in the suburbs of Ch ...

* Jim Henry, former Minority Leader of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

* Bob Tripp * Dave Kelley * Jessie D. McDonald

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former mayor of

Democratic nominee for governor * Randy Nichols, Knox County district attorney general * Charles E. Smith, former Tennessee commissioner of education * Charles V. Brown * L. Best * Floyd R. Conover

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

(D) * Van Hilleary (R) * Edwin C. Sanders (I) * Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I) *

John Jay Hooker John Jay Hooker, Jr. (August 24, 1930 – January 24, 2016) was an American Lawyer, attorney, entrepreneur, political Social gadfly, gadfly and perennial candidate from Nashville, Tennessee, who was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

(I) * David Gatchell (I) * Gabriel Givens (I) * Ray Ledford (I) * James E. Herren (I) * Charles V. Wilhoit Jr. (I) * Marivuana Stout Leinoff (I) * Francis E. Waldron (I) * Ronny Simmons (I) * Robert O. Watson (I) *

Basil Marceaux Basil Marceaux, Sr. (born May 26, 1952) is an American perennial candidate who has on multiple occasions run for state and federal public office in Tennessee. Most recently, he has filed as a candidate in the 2022 gubernatorial election as a ...

(I)

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

References

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)
Phil Bredesen for Governor

Van Hilleary for Governor
{{United States elections, 2002

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes

References

External links