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Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party.[1][2] 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, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, and Jackson. Several suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Tennessee:
The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:
For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.
Year | Executive office | State Legislature | United States Congress | Electoral College votes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Governor | State Senate | State House | U.S. Senator (Class I) | U.S. Senator (Class II) | U.S. House | ||
1790 | William Blount (DR)[lower-alpha 1] | [?] | [?] | James White (DR)[lower-alpha 2] | |||
1791 | |||||||
1792 | |||||||
1793 | |||||||
1794 | DR majority | [?] | |||||
1795 | [?] | ||||||
1796 | John Sevier (DR) | [?] | [?] | William Cocke (DR) | William Blount (DR)[lower-alpha 3] | Andrew Jackson (DR) | Thomas Jefferson/ Aaron Burr (DR) ![]() |
1797 | [?] | ||||||
Andrew Jackson (DR)[lower-alpha 4] | Joseph Anderson (DR) | William C. C. Claiborne (DR) | |||||
1798 | DR majority | [?] | |||||
Daniel Smith (DR) | |||||||
1799 | [?] | DR majority | Joseph Anderson (DR) | William Cocke (DR) | |||
1800 | Thomas Jefferson/ Aaron Burr (DR) ![]() | ||||||
1801 | Archibald Roane (DR) | [?] | DR majority | William Dickson (DR) | |||
1802 | |||||||
1803 | John Sevier (DR) | [?] | [?] | 3DR | |||
1804 | Thomas Jefferson/ George Clinton (DR) ![]() | ||||||
1805 | DR majority | DR majority | Daniel Smith (DR) | ||||
1806 | |||||||
1807 | DR majority | [?] | |||||
1808 | James Madison/ George Clinton (DR) ![]() | ||||||
1809 | Willie Blount (DR) | DR majority | F majority | ||||
Jenkin Whiteside (DR) | |||||||
1810 | |||||||
1811 | DR majority | DR majority | |||||
George W. Campbell (DR)[lower-alpha 5] | |||||||
1812 | James Madison/ Elbridge Gerry (DR) ![]() | ||||||
1813 | DR majority | DR majority | 6DR | ||||
1814 | Jesse Wharton (DR) | ||||||
1815 | Joseph McMinn (DR) | DR majority | DR majority | George W. Campbell (DR) | |||
John Williams (DR) | |||||||
1816 | James Monroe/ Daniel D. Tompkins (DR) ![]() | ||||||
1817 | DR majority | DR majority | |||||
1818 | |||||||
John Eaton (DR) | |||||||
1819 | DR majority | DR majority | |||||
1820 | |||||||
1821 | William Carroll (DR) | DR majority | DR majority | 5DR, 1 vac. | |||
1822 | |||||||
1823 | DR majority | DR majority | Andrew Jackson (DR)[lower-alpha 4] | 9DR | |||
1824 | Andrew Jackson ![]() John C. Calhoun ![]() | ||||||
1825 | NR majority | [?] | John Eaton (J)[lower-alpha 6] | Andrew Jackson (J) | 9J | ||
Hugh Lawson White (J) | |||||||
1826 | |||||||
1827 | Sam Houston (DR)[lower-alpha 4] | J majority | [?] | 8J, 1NR | |||
1828 | Andrew Jackson/ John C. Calhoun (D) ![]() | ||||||
1829 | NR majority | ||||||
William Hall (D) | NR majority | Felix Grundy (J)[lower-alpha 7] | |||||
William Carroll (D) | |||||||
1830 | |||||||
1831 | NR majority | J majority | |||||
1832 | Andrew Jackson/ Martin Van Buren (D) ![]() | ||||||
1833 | J majority | J majority | 12J, 1NR | ||||
1834 | |||||||
1835 | Newton Cannon (W) | NR majority | J majority | Hugh Lawson White (NR) | 9NR, 4J | ||
1836 | NR majority | NR majority | Hugh Lawson White/ John Tyler (W) ![]() | ||||
1837 | Felix Grundy (D) | Hugh Lawson White (W)[lower-alpha 4] | 10W, 3D | ||||
1838 | 18W, 7D | 46W, 25D, 4? | vacant | ||||
Ephraim H. Foster (W) | |||||||
1839 | James K. Polk (D) | Felix Grundy (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 7W, 6D | ||||
1840 | 14D, 11W | 42D, 33W | Alexander O. Anderson (D) | William Henry Harrison/ John Tyler (W) ![]() | |||
1841 | James C. Jones (W) | Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D) | vacant | 8W, 5D | |||
1842 | 13D, 12W | 39W, 36D | |||||
1843 | Ephraim H. Foster (W) | Spencer Jarnagin (W) | 6D, 5W | ||||
1844 | 14W, 11D | 40W, 35D | Henry Clay/ Theodore Frelinghuysen (W) ![]() | ||||
1845 | Aaron V. Brown (D) | Hopkins L. Turney (D) | |||||
1846 | 13D, 12W | 39D, 36W | |||||
1847 | Neill S. Brown (W) | John Bell (W) | |||||
1848 | 13W, 12D | 41W, 34D | Zachary Taylor/ Millard Fillmore (W) ![]() | ||||
1849 | William Trousdale (D) | 7D, 4W | |||||
1850 | 14D, 11W | 39D, 36W | |||||
1851 | William B. Campbell (W) | James C. Jones (W) | |||||
1852 | 16W, 9D | 39W, 36D | Winfield Scott/ William Alexander Graham (W) ![]() | ||||
1853 | Andrew Johnson (D) | 5D, 5W | |||||
1854 | 13D, 12KN | 44W, 31D | 6W, 4D | ||||
1855 | 5D, 5KN | ||||||
1856 | 14KN, 11D | 38KN, 37D | James Buchanan/ John C. Breckinridge (D) ![]() | ||||
1857 | Isham G. Harris (D) | Andrew Johnson (D) | John Bell (KN) | 7D, 3KN | |||
1858 | 18D, 7KN | 42D, 33KN | |||||
1859 | Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D) | 7O, 3D | |||||
1860 | 14D, 11O | 41D, 34O | John Bell/ Edward Everett (CU) ![]() | ||||
1861 | 3U, 7 vac. | ||||||
1862 | American Civil War | ||||||
Andrew Johnson (U/Military) |
American Civil War | ||||||
1863 | |||||||
1864 | Abraham Lincoln/ Andrew Johnson (NU) ![]() | ||||||
1865 | Edward H. East (R)[lower-alpha 9] | ||||||
Parson Brownlow (R) | |||||||
1866 | 25R | 79R, 4D | David T. Patterson (U) | Joseph S. Fowler (U) | 8U | ||
1867 | David T. Patterson (D) | Joseph S. Fowler (R) | 8R | ||||
1868 | 83R | Ulysses S. Grant/ Schuyler Colfax (R) ![]() | |||||
1869 | Dewitt Clinton Senter (R) | Parson Brownlow (R) | |||||
1870 | 20D, 5R | 66D, 17R | |||||
1871 | John C. Brown (D) | 22D, 3R | 63D, 12R | Henry Cooper (D) | 6D, 2R | ||
1872 | Thomas A. Hendricks/ B. Gratz Brown (D) ![]() | ||||||
1873 | 18D, 7R | 49D, 26R | 7R, 3D | ||||
1874 | |||||||
1875 | James D. Porter (D) | 23D, 2R | 70D, 5R | Andrew Johnson (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 9D, 1R | ||
David M. Key (D) | |||||||
1876 | Samuel J. Tilden/ Thomas A. Hendricks (D) ![]() | ||||||
1877 | 20D, 5R | 59D, 16R | James E. Bailey (D) | Isham G. Harris (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 8D, 2R | ||
1878 | |||||||
1879 | Albert S. Marks (D) | 22D, 3R | 61D, 14R | 9D, 1R | |||
1880 | Winfield Scott Hancock and William Hayden English (D) ![]() | ||||||
1881 | Alvin Hawkins (R) | 15D, 10R | 37R, 37D, 1GB[lower-alpha 10] | Howell E. Jackson (D)[lower-alpha 11] | 7D, 3R | ||
1882 | |||||||
1883 | William B. Bate (D) | 27D, 6R | 71D, 28R | 8D, 2R | |||
1884 | Grover Cleveland/ Thomas A. Hendricks (D) ![]() | ||||||
1885 | 22D, 11R | 81D, 18R | 7D, 3R | ||||
1886 | |||||||
Washington C. Whitthorne (D) | |||||||
1887 | Robert Love Taylor (D) | 21D, 12R | 63D, 36R | William B. Bate (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 8D, 2R | ||
1888 | Grover Cleveland/ Allen G. Thurman (D) ![]() | ||||||
1889 | 23D, 10R | 69D, 30R | 7D, 3R | ||||
1890 | |||||||
1891 | John P. Buchanan (FA) | 25D, 8R | 79D, 20R | 8D, 2R | |||
1892 | Grover Cleveland/ Adlai Stevenson I (D) ![]() | ||||||
1893 | Peter Turney (D) | 25D, 6R, 1Pop, 1I | 68D, 26R, 5Pop | ||||
1894 | |||||||
1895 | 21D, 10R, 1Pop, 1U | 60D, 32R, 7Pop | 6D, 4R | ||||
1896 | William Jennings Bryan/ Arthur Sewall (D) ![]() | ||||||
1897 | Robert Love Taylor (D) | 24D, 9R | 63D, 32R, 4Pop | 8D, 2R | |||
Thomas B. Turley (D) | |||||||
1898 | |||||||
1899 | Benton McMillin (D) | 25D, 8R | 77D, 22R | ||||
1900 | William Jennings Bryan/ Adlai Stevenson I (D) ![]() | ||||||
1901 | 27D, 5R, 1ID | 76D, 23R | Edward W. Carmack (D) | ||||
1902 | |||||||
1903 | James B. Frazier (D)[lower-alpha 12] | 28D, 5R | 83D, 16R | ||||
1904 | Alton B. Parker/ Henry G. Davis (D) ![]() | ||||||
1905 | 80D, 19R | ||||||
John I. Cox (D) | James B. Frazier (D) | ||||||
1906 | |||||||
1907 | Malcolm R. Patterson (D) | 27D, 6R | 78D, 21R | Robert Love Taylor (D)[lower-alpha 8] | |||
1908 | William Jennings Bryan/ John W. Kern (D) ![]() | ||||||
1909 | 28D, 5R | 77D, 22R | |||||
1910 | |||||||
1911 | Ben W. Hooper (R) | 21D, 7R, 4RD, 1I | 74D, 25R | Luke Lea (D) | |||
1912 | Newell Sanders (R) | Woodrow Wilson/ Thomas R. Marshall (D) ![]() | |||||
1913 | 16D, 6R, 6RD, 5ID | 52D, 27R, 20I | William R. Webb (D) | ||||
John K. Shields (D) | |||||||
1914 | |||||||
1915 | Thomas Clark Rye (D) | 26D, 7R | 72D, 27R | ||||
1916 | |||||||
1917 | 27D, 6R | Kenneth McKellar (D) | |||||
1918 | |||||||
1919 | Albert H. Roberts (D) | 26D, 7R | |||||
1920 | Warren G. Harding/ Calvin Coolidge (R) ![]() | ||||||
1921 | Alfred A. Taylor (R) | 24D, 9R | 66D, 32R, 1I | 5D, 5R | |||
1922 | |||||||
1923 | Austin Peay (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 28D, 5R | 76D, 23R | 8D, 2R | |||
1924 | John W. Davis/ Charles W. Bryan (D) ![]() | ||||||
1925 | 29D, 4R | Lawrence Tyson (D)[lower-alpha 8] | |||||
1926 | |||||||
1927 | Henry Hollis Horton (D)[lower-alpha 13] | 28D, 5R | 80D, 19R | ||||
1928 | Herbert Hoover/ Charles Curtis (R) ![]() | ||||||
1929 | 25D, 8R | 72D, 27R | |||||
William E. Brock (D) | |||||||
1930 | |||||||
1931 | 28D, 5R | 83D, 16R | Cordell Hull (D)[lower-alpha 14] | ||||
1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt/ John Nance Garner (D) ![]() | ||||||
1933 | Hill McAlister (D) | 29D, 4R | 81D, 18R | Nathan L. Bachman (D)[lower-alpha 8] | 7D, 2R | ||
1934 | |||||||
1935 | 28D, 5R | ||||||
1936 | |||||||
1937 | Gordon Browning (D) | 29D, 4R | |||||
George L. Berry (D) | |||||||
1938 | |||||||
1939 | Prentice Cooper (D) | 83D, 16R | Tom Stewart (D) | ||||
1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt/ Henry A. Wallace (D) ![]() | ||||||
1941 | |||||||
1942 | |||||||
1943 | 30D, 3R | 78D, 20R, 1I | 8D, 2R | ||||
1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt/ Harry S. Truman (D) ![]() | ||||||
1945 | Jim Nance McCord (D) | 28D, 5R | 75D, 24R | ||||
1946 | |||||||
1947 | 29D, 4R | 82D, 17R | |||||
1948 | Harry S. Truman/ Alben W. Barkley (D) ![]() | ||||||
1949 | Gordon Browning (D) | 80D, 19R | Estes Kefauver (D)[lower-alpha 8] | ||||
1950 | |||||||
1951 | |||||||
1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower/ Richard Nixon (R) ![]() | ||||||
1953 | Frank G. Clement (D) | 28D, 5R | 81D, 18R | Albert Gore Sr. (D) | 7D, 2R | ||
1954 | |||||||
1955 | 80D, 19R | ||||||
1956 | |||||||
1957 | 27D, 6R | 78D, 21R | |||||
1958 | |||||||
1959 | Buford Ellington (D) | 28D, 5R | 82D, 17R | ||||
1960 | Richard Nixon/ Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R) ![]() | ||||||
1961 | 27D, 6R | 81D, 18R | |||||
1962 | |||||||
1963 | Frank G. Clement (D) | 78D, 21R | Herbert S. Walters (D) | 6D, 3R | |||
1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson/ Hubert Humphrey (D) ![]() | ||||||
1965 | 25D, 8R | 74D, 25R | Ross Bass (D) | ||||
1966 | |||||||
1967 | Buford Ellington (D) | 58D, 41R | Howard Baker (R) | 5D, 4R | |||
1968 | Richard Nixon/ Spiro Agnew (R) ![]() | ||||||
1969 | 20D, 13R | 49R, 49D, 1I[lower-alpha 15] | |||||
1970 | 21D, 12R | ||||||
1971 | Winfield Dunn (R) | 19D, 13R, 1A | 56D, 43R | Bill Brock (R) | |||
1972 | |||||||
1973 | 51D, 48R | 5R, 3D | |||||
1974 | |||||||
1975 | Ray Blanton (D) | 20D, 12R, 1I | 63D, 35R, 1I | 5D, 3R | |||
1976 | Jimmy Carter/ Walter Mondale (D) ![]() | ||||||
1977 | 23D, 9R, 1I | 66D, 32R, 1I | Jim Sasser (D) | ||||
1978 | |||||||
1979 | Lamar Alexander (R) | 20D, 12R, 1I | 60D, 38R, 1I | ||||
1980 | Ronald Reagan/ George H. W. Bush (R) ![]() | ||||||
1981 | 58D, 39R, 2I | ||||||
1982 | 21D, 11R, 1I | ||||||
1983 | 60D, 38R, 1I | 6D, 3R | |||||
1984 | 22D, 11R | ||||||
1985 | 23D, 10R | 62D, 37R | Al Gore (D)[lower-alpha 16] | ||||
1986 | |||||||
1987 | Ned McWherter (D) | 61D, 38R | |||||
1988 | George H. W. Bush/ Dan Quayle (R) ![]() | ||||||
1989 | 22D, 11R | 59D, 40R | |||||
1990 | |||||||
1991 | 20D, 13R | 55D, 44R | |||||
1992 | Bill Clinton/ Al Gore (D) ![]() | ||||||
1993 | 19D, 14R | 64D, 35R | Harlan Mathews (D)[lower-alpha 17] | ||||
1994 | |||||||
Fred Thompson (R)[lower-alpha 18] | |||||||
1995 | Don Sundquist (R) | 18D, 15R | 59D, 40R | Bill Frist (R) | 5R, 4D | ||
1996 | 17R, 16D[lower-alpha 19] | ||||||
1997 | 18D, 15R | 61D, 38R | |||||
1998 | |||||||
1999 | 59D, 40R | ||||||
2000 | George W. Bush/ Dick Cheney (R) ![]() | ||||||
2001 | 18D, 15R | 58D, 41R | |||||
2002 | |||||||
2003 | Phil Bredesen (D) | 54D, 45R | Lamar Alexander (R) | 5D, 4R | |||
2004 | |||||||
2005 | 17R, 16D[lower-alpha 20] | 53D, 46R | |||||
2006 | |||||||
2007 | 17R, 16D | Bob Corker (R) | |||||
16R, 16D, 1I[lower-alpha 21] | |||||||
16R, 15D, 1I | |||||||
16R, 16D, 1I | |||||||
2008 | John McCain/ Sarah Palin (R) ![]() | ||||||
2009 | 19R, 14D | 50R, 49D | |||||
49R, 49D, 1CCR[lower-alpha 22] | |||||||
2010 | 50R, 48D, 1I | ||||||
2011 | Bill Haslam (R) | 20R, 13D | 64R, 34D, 1I | 7R, 2D | |||
2012 | Mitt Romney/ Paul Ryan (R) ![]() | ||||||
2013 | 26R, 7D | 71R, 27D, 1I | |||||
2014 | |||||||
2015 | 28R, 5D | 73R, 26D | |||||
2016 | Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R) ![]() | ||||||
2017 | 74R, 25D | ||||||
2018 | |||||||
2019 | Bill Lee (R) | 73R, 26D | Marsha Blackburn (R) | ||||
2020 | Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R) ![]() | ||||||
2021 | 27R, 6D | Bill Hagerty (R) | |||||
2022 | |||||||
2023 | 75R, 24D | 8R, 1D | |||||
2024 | [to be determined] | ||||||
Year | Governor | State Senate | State House | U.S. Senator (Class I) | U.S. Senator (Class II) | U.S. House | Electoral College votes |
Executive office | State Legislature | United States Congress |
In 1789, the new United States designated this area as the "Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio."[5] Even though Tennessee was not yet a state, some government was organized to administer the territory. William Blount was appointed as the first official governor of Tennessee, James White became the state's first representative in Congress, and Tennessee's political party history under European Americans was started. The majority party in Tennessee began as the Democratic-Republican party and operated until 1828. That year it was dissolved and the Democratic Party was formed.[6]
From 1828, control of Tennessee state government alternated initially between the Democratic Party and the on. Whig Party in opposition. It later became the Republican Party, shortly before the American Civil War began in 1861. While these two parties fought for the majority during these years, the Know-Nothing Party, Unionist Party, and Constitutional Party were also active in the state. Their representatives were elected to state government, but did not dominate it. The politics of Middle and Western Tennessee were dominated by planters and slaveholders, especially the major planters in the western Delta area of Memphis and environs near the Mississippi River. Overseeing a large population of enslaved African Americans, planters voted to secede at the time of the Civil War in order to protect slavery, which was profitable for them and the commodity crop of cotton. Eastern Tennessee, by contrast, had a population with higher representation of white yeomen and subsistence farmers and artisans. They supported the Union during the Civil War and resisted secession.
From the Civil War until World War II, Tennessee was controlled by the Democratic Party, made up of conservative whites in the state, especially of the planter and former slaveholding class. Together with other white Democratic Southerners in Congress, they formed a voting block known as the Solid South. Based on the seniority rules of the time and their virtually unrestricted control of seats from Southern states by having disenfranchised most African American at the turn of the century, senior Congressmen and Senators from the South controlled chairmanships of important committees, strongly influencing national policy. During the Great Depression, they limited benefits for African Americans in the South.
During the period from 1939 until about 1970, the conservative whites of the Democratic party in Tennessee largely controlled the state politically. A minority of Republican voters were dominant in the eastern part of the state, which had favored the Union during the Civil War. But the state had been more competitive between its two parties than others in the South, as more blacks had retained their ability to vote and supported the Republican Party into the early 20th century.[7][page needed]
In 1976, Tennessee voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia, a "favorite son" of the South. Similarly, in 1992 and 1996, Tennessee voted for the Democratic ticket of Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Al Gore, a US senator from Tennessee, both sons of the South. But in 2000, Tennessee voted for Republican George W. Bush over Al Gore by single digit margins. Since 2000, Tennessee has become a Republican stronghold, voting increasingly Republican in all following elections.
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