The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP or TNGOP) is the affiliate of the

United States Republican Party The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. One of the Two-party system, two major parties, it emerged as t ...

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 ...

. Since the mid-1960s, the state has become increasingly Republican. The current chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Scott Golden. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but one of Tennessee's nine

U.S. House 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 th ...

seats, both

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

, the governorship, and has supermajorities in both houses of 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 ...

History

Upon its entry into the Union in 1796, Tennessee was strongly

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

. Tennessee became a two-party system for more than 20 years during the Jacksonian era. The Democratic Party was formed by Jackson followers, and this party was dominant against the rival Whig Party led by

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

. But in 1835, there was a turn in power of party, and a Whig governor was elected. Tennessee, after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

was part of the Democratic South for about a century. East Tennessee, however, remained strongly Republican. Even though the state was predominantly Democratic, two different presidential elections won the state of Tennessee in 1920 and 1928. In the 1960s and 1970s Republicans made a push into the Democratic power when, in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Howard Baker Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician, diplomat and photographer who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Le ...

was elected US senator. Then again Republicans made another push when Winfield Dunn was elected governor, the first Republican Governor in over 50 years. Republicans rarely held seats in the U.S. House from the South during the Solid South period with the party only holding two seats in Tennessee between 1947 and 1952, out of the 105 seats in the south. Republicans won 80 of 2,565 congressional elections in the south during the first half of the 20th century. 50 of these victories were in eastern Tennessee.

Leadership and staff

The Tennessee Republican Party has had five chairmen since 2005. On December 11, 2004, the State Executive Committee unanimously elected Bob Davis as Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party to serve for the calendar years 2005 and 2006. He was subsequently elected to a second two-year term, 2007 and 2008, but resigned from the chairmanship in August 2007 to become Senior Adviser to presidential candidate

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

. The party's State Executive Committee then chose Robin Smith, former chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and vice chairman of the Tennessee GOP under Davis, to complete Davis's two-year term. Republicans won a victory in Tennessee's 2008 elections, when the party won majorities in both houses of the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

for the first time since the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

election of 1868. Smith was unanimously re-elected at the end of 2008 to a full two-year term as chairman for calendar years 2009 and 2010. In April 2009, Smith announced her resignation in order to run for Congress in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district in the August 2010 Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

Staff

The Chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Scott Golden, who was elected on December 3, 2016.

Current elected officials

The Tennessee Republican Party controls the governor's office and a supermajority in the Tennessee Senate and the Tennessee House of Representatives. Republicans hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 8 of the state's 9 U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

File:Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) official headshot - 116th Congress (Cropped).jpg, Senior U.S. Senator File:Sen. Bill Hagerty official Senate portrait, 117th Congress (cropped).jpg, Junior U.S. Senator

U.S. House of Representatives

Diana Harshbarger Diana Lynn Harshbarger ( ; born January 1, 1960) is an American pharmacist, businesswoman, and politician. Harshbarger has served as the U.S. representative for since 2021. Her district is based in the Tri-Cities area in northeastern Tennessee ...

- 1st District * Tim Burchett - 2nd District *

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 ...

- 3rd District *

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 ...

- 4th District * Andy Ogles - 5th District * John Rose - 6th District * Mark Green - 7th District * David Kustoff - 8th District

Statewide offices

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

: Bill Lee *

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Randy McNally James Rand McNally III (born January 30, 1944) is an American politician. He is the 50th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, lieutenant governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he has been the s ...

Legislative leadership

* Speaker of the Senate/Lt. Governor:

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

: Cameron Sexton

Tennessee state senate

As of 2024: * J. Adam Lowe - District 1 * Art Swann - District 2 * Rusty Crowe - District 3 * Jon Lundberg -

District 4 District 4 can refer to: * District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany * District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia * District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam * District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States * IV District, Turku, in Finland *Aus ...

* Lt. Gov.

District 5 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * District 5, an electoral district of Malta * District 5, a police district of Malta * Palma-Palmilla, also kno ...

* Becky Duncan Massey -

District 6 District Six is a place in Cape Town, South Africa. District Six may also refer to: :Government divisions * District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * District 6 (New York City Council), in the United States * VI District, Turku, in Finland * Dist ...

* Richard Briggs -

District 7 District 7 could refer to: *District 7, Ho Chi Minh City District 7 () is an Districts of Vietnam, urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. As of 2024, the district had a population of 456,789 and an area of 36 km². ...

* Frank Niceley - District 8 * Steve Southerland -

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand ...

* Todd Gardenhire - District 10 * Bo Watson - District 11 * Ken Yager - District 12 * Dawn White - District 13 * Shane Reeves - District 14 * Paul Bailey - District 15 * Janice Bowling - District 16 * Mark Pody - District 17 * Ferrell Haile - District 18 * Bill Powers - District 22 * Kerry Roberts - District 23 * John Stevens - District 24 * Ed Jackson - District 25 * Page Walley - District 26 * Jack Johnson - District 27 * Joey Hensley - District 28 * Brent Taylor - District 31 * Paul Rose - District 32

Tennessee state house

As of 2024: * John Crawford - District 1 * Bud Hulsey - District 2 * Timothy Hill - District 3 * David Hawk - District 5 * Tim Hicks - District 6 * Rebecca Alexander - District 7 * Jerome Moon - District 8 * Gary Hicks - District 9 * Rick Eldridge - District 10 * Jeremy Faison - District 11 * Dale Carr - District 12 * Robert Stevens - District 13 * Jason Zachary - District 14 * Michele Carringer - District 16 * Andrew Farmer - District 17 * Elaine Davis - District 18 * Dave Wright - District 19 * Bryan Richey - District 20 * Lowell Russell - District 21 * Dan Howell - District 22 * Mark Cochran - District 23 * Kevin Raper - District 24 * Speaker Cameron Sexton - District 25 *Greg Martin - District 26 * Patsy Hazlewood - District 27 * Greg Vital - District 29 * Esther Helton - District 30 * Ron Travis - District 31 * Monty Fritts - District 32 * John Ragan - District 33 * Tim Rudd - District 34 *William Slater - District 35 * Dennis Powers - District 36 * Charlie Baum - District 37 * Kelly Keisling - District 38 * Iris Rudder - District 39 *Michael Hale - District 40 *Ed Butler - District 41 * Ryan Williams - District 42 * Paul Sherrell - District 43 * William Lamberth - District 44 * Johnny Garrett - District 45 * Clark Boyd - District 46 * Rush Bricken - District 47 * Bryan Terry - District 48 * Mike Sparks - District 49 * Susan Lynn - District 57 * Gino Bulso - District 61 * Pat Marsh - District 62 * Jake McCalmon - District 63 * Scott Cepicky - District 64 * Sam Whitson - District 65 * Sabi "Doc" Kumar - District 66 * Curtis Johnson - District 68 * Jody Barrett - District 69 * Clay Doggett - District 70 * Kip Capley - District 71 * Kirk Haston - District 72 * Chris Todd - District 73 * Jay Reedy - District 74 *Jeff Burkhart - District 75 * Tandy Darby - District 76 * Rusty Grills - District 77 * Mary Littleton - District 78 * Brock Martin - District 79 * Debra Moody - District 81 * Chris Hurt - District 82 * Mark White - District 83 * Justin Lafferty - District 89 * Todd Warner - District 92 *

Ron Gant Ronald Edwin Gant (born March 2, 1965) is an American television news anchor and former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1987 and 2003 for eight different teams, primarily the Atlanta Braves (1 ...

- District 94 * Kevin Vaughan - District 95 * John Gillespie - District 97 * Tom Leatherwood - District 99

Current structure

Here is the structure of the party as of December 2011

Elected officers of the state committee

*State Chairman *Vice-chairman *Secretary *Treasurer *Vice-Treasurer *National Committeewoman *National Committeeman *General Counsel

State executive committee

The state executive committee (SEC) operates as the governing body for the state party. They establish rules and measures that best promote the success of the Republican Party and the broadening of its base. The SEC serves as the TRP's state primary board and establishes to guide and direct County Republican Parties. One man and one woman are elected from each state senate district. *33 districts *66 total representatives of the TRP *33 are male *33 are female

Coalitions

*African American Development Council *

College Republicans College Republicans is an umbrella term that describes college and university students who support the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is the oldest campus- ...

Republican Jewish Coalition The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), formerly the National Jewish Coalition, founded in 1985, is a political group in the United States that supports Jewish Republicans. The organization has more than 47 chapters throughout the United States. ...

*Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Tennessee * Teenage Republicans *

Young Republicans The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

*Tennessee Federation of Republican Women

Electoral achievements

Government trifecta

In the 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial election, Republican nominee Bill Haslam flipped the governors seat. With the

also being controlled by Republicans, this established a historic Republican

government trifecta A government trifecta is a political situation in which the same political party controls the Executive (government), executive branch and both chambers of the legislative branch in countries that have a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature and a ...

for the first time since the reconstruction era election of

1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...

. Ever since this election, Republicans have maintained their trifecta, electing Republicans since then.

Legislative achievements

In 2008 Republicans won a historic victory when the party won majorities in both chambers of the

for the first time since the reconstruction era election of 1868. Since 2008, Republicans have maintained their majorities in both chambers and gained a historic

Supermajority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...

in both chambers in 2012.

Federal elections

Like other Southern states, before the 1960s, Tennessee was a solidly Democratic state. However, that started to change in the 1970s.

Presidential

Since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Republicans have maintained their presidential election winning streak. The last time Tennessee voted for a Democratic presidential nominee was in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

U.S. legislative

Republicans have held hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats since

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 ...

. The current Republican senators are

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 ...

and Bill Hagerty. Republicans have also held a majority of U.S. House seats since

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 ...

. The current delegation is an 8-1 Republican majority.

Former Chairmen

*Guy Smith, editor of the ''Knoxville Journal'', from 1948-1958 * Congressman Carroll Reece (R-Johnson City), from 1958 to 1961. Reece was Chair of the Republican National Committee from 1946-1948. * Congressman Howard Baker, Sr. (R-Huntsville), from 1961 to 1962 *Erby Jenkins, from 1962 to 1963 *George Ed Wilson, from 1963 to 1964 *Harry Carbaugh, from 1964 to 1965 *Julius Hurst, the McNairy County Superintendent of Schools, was the first person from West Tennessee to chair the party and served from 1965 to 1966 *Ernest Koella, from 1966 to 1977 *Claude Robertson, from 1967 to 1969 *State Rep. Ed Bailey (R-Lexington) from 1969 to 1971 *S.L. “Kopie” Kopald, Jr., from 1971-1974 * Thomas W. Beasley, from 1977 to 1981. *Charles L. Overby, from 1981-1982. *Susan Richardson Williams, from 1982 to 1984. *State Rep Jim Henry (R-Kingston), from 1984 to 1988. Henry was also House Republican Leader from 1982 to 1988. *Former State Rep. Brad Martin (R-Memphis), from 1988 to 1990. *Tommy Hopper, 1990 to 1992. *Randle Richardson, from 1992 to 1995. *Jim Burnett, from 1995 to 1999. * Chip Saltsman, from 1999 to 2001. * Beth Harwell, from 2001 to 2004. *Bob Davis, from 2005 to August 2007. * Robin Smith, from August 4, 2007, to May 30, 2009. * Chris Devaney, from 2009 to 2015 * Ryan Haynes, from 2015 to 2016.

Past Republican governors

* Edward H. East 1865 * William G. Brownlow 1865–1869 * Dewitt C. Senter 1869–1871 * Alvin Hawkins 1881–1883 * Ben W. Hooper 1911–1915 * Alfred A. Taylor 1921–1923 * Winfield Dunn 1971–1975 *

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1 ...

1979–1987 *

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 ...

1995–2003 * Bill Haslam 2011–2019

Notable Tennessee Republicans

Bill Frist William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as ...

Bill Brock William Emerson Brock III (November 23, 1930 – March 25, 2021) was an American politician from the state of Tennessee. A member of Republican Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was a member of the U.S. House ...

* Winfield Dunn *

* Bob Corker *

Kane (wrestler) Glenn Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967), also known by his ring name Kane, is an American politician, actor and professional wrestler. He rose to fame in WWE and is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. In 2018 ...

Controversy and scandals

Controversies

In 2008, the Tennessee Republican Party issued a press release that featured a photo of Senator Obama dressed in traditional Kenya clothing that the TN GOP called "Muslim attire" and used Obama's middle name "Hussein." Both Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

and State Democratic Chairman Gray Sasser decried the press release.

Scandals

*In July 2009, state senator

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

resigned after being caught in a sexual relationship with a 22-year-old intern. Paul Stanley was known for running for family values. Stanley resigned because he wanted to focus more on his family and better that since his indiscretions. He was quoted saying, "And just because I fell far short of what God's standard was for me and my wife, doesn't mean that that standard is reduced in the least bit." * Keith Westmoreland a Republican Tennessee State Representative, was arrested on 7 felony counts of lewd and exposing himself to girls under the age of 16. He committed suicide before he could be prosecuted. * Operation Tennessee Waltz was a statewide bribery sting, where 3 Democratic Senators and 1 Republican Representative were either convicted or pleaded guilty. 8 other people also either pleaded guilty or were convicted.
Operation Tennessee Waltz.

Electoral history

Gubernatorial

References

Works cited

* *

External links

Tennessee Republican PartyTennessee Federation of Republican WomenTennessee Federation of College RepublicansTennessee Young Republican FederationTennessee Teenage Republicans Republican Jewish Federation
{{Authority control Republican Party