Elections in Tennessee
Elections in Tennessee are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Statewide legislative referrals and referendums may also be on the ballot in some elections. Tennessee is one of thirteen states that holds its presidential primaries on Super Tuesday .[ 1]
Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states that require voters to present a form of photo identification .[ 2] [ 3]
Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the Democratic Solid South , but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state. During this time, East Tennessee was heavily Republican and the western two thirds mostly voted Democratic, with the latter dominating the state.[ 5] [ 5]
Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party .[ 6] [ 7] 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 , and Clarksville . Several suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.
Presidential
List of presidential elections in Tennessee from 1836-present.
United States presidential election results for Tennessee[ 8] [ 9]
Year
Republican / Whig
Democratic
Third party(ies)
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
2024 1,964,499
64.19%
1,055,039
34.48%
40,756
1.33%
2020 1,852,475
60.66%
1,143,711
37.45%
57,665
1.89%
2016 1,522,925
60.72%
870,695
34.72%
114,407
4.56%
2012 1,462,330
59.42%
960,709
39.04%
37,865
1.54%
2008 1,479,178
56.85%
1,087,437
41.79%
35,367
1.36%
2004 1,383,336
56.81%
1,035,160
42.51%
16,453
0.68%
2000 1,061,949
51.15%
981,720
47.28%
32,512
1.57%
1996 863,530
45.59%
909,146
48.00%
121,429
6.41%
1992 841,300
42.43%
933,521
47.08%
207,817
10.48%
1988 947,233
57.89%
679,794
41.55%
9,223
0.56%
1984 990,212
57.84%
711,714
41.57%
10,067
0.59%
1980 787,761
48.70%
783,051
48.41%
46,804
2.89%
1976 633,969
42.94%
825,879
55.94%
16,498
1.12%
1972 813,147
67.70%
357,293
29.75%
30,742
2.56%
1968 472,592
37.85%
351,233
28.13%
424,792
34.02%
1964 508,965
44.49%
634,947
55.50%
34
0.00%
1960 556,577
52.92%
481,453
45.77%
13,762
1.31%
1956 462,288
49.21%
456,507
48.60%
20,609
2.19%
1952 446,147
49.99%
443,710
49.71%
2,696
0.30%
1948 202,914
36.87%
270,402
49.14%
76,967
13.99%
1944 200,311
39.22%
308,707
60.45%
1,674
0.33%
1940 169,153
32.35%
351,601
67.25%
2,069
0.40%
1936 146,520
30.81%
327,083
68.78%
1,935
0.41%
1932 126,752
32.48%
259,473
66.49%
4,031
1.03%
1928 195,388
53.76%
167,343
46.04%
742
0.20%
1924 130,728
43.54%
158,682
52.86%
10,810
3.60%
1920 219,829
51.29%
206,558
48.19%
2,239
0.52%
1916 116,223
42.70%
153,280
56.31%
2,687
0.99%
1912 60,475
24.00%
133,021
52.80%
58,437
23.20%
1908 117,977
45.87%
135,608
52.73%
3,595
1.40%
1904 105,363
43.40%
131,653
54.23%
5,734
2.36%
1900 123,108
44.95%
145,240
53.03%
5,512
2.01%
1896 148,683
46.33%
167,168
52.09%
5,052
1.57%
1892 100,537
37.83%
136,468
51.36%
28,727
10.81%
1888 138,978
45.76%
158,699
52.26%
6,017
1.98%
1884 124,101
47.74%
133,770
51.45%
2,107
0.81%
1880 107,677
44.26%
129,569
53.26%
6,017
2.47%
1876 89,566
40.21%
133,177
59.79%
0
0.00%
1872 85,655
47.84%
93,391
52.16%
0
0.00%
1868 56,628
68.43%
26,129
31.57%
0
0.00%
1864 30,000
85.71%
5,000
14.29%
0
0.00%
1860 0
0.00%
11,281
7.72%
134,825
92.28%
1856 0
0.00%
69,704
52.18%
63,878
47.82%
1852 58,586
50.73%
56,900
49.27%
0
0.00%
1848 64,321
52.52%
58,142
47.48%
0
0.00%
1844 60,040
50.05%
59,917
49.95%
0
0.00%
1840 60,194
55.66%
47,951
44.34%
0
0.00%
1836 36,027
57.92%
26,170
42.08%
0
0.00%
Presidential primaries
Republican primary
Democratic primary
National legislative
List of national legislative elections in Tennessee from 2000-present.
Senate elections
House of Representatives elections
Gubernatorial
List of gubernatorial elections in Tennessee from 2002-present.
State legislative
State Senate elections
State House elections
Ballot propositions
Local elections
Nashville Mayoral elections
Nashville measures
Countywide elections
Chattanooga elections
Countywide elections
Knoxville elections
Countywide elections
Memphis elections
Elections by year
See also
References
^ "Super Tuesday 2020" . US Presidential Election News . Retrieved April 24, 2019 .^ "Voter Identification Requirements" . ncsl.org . National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved May 25, 2021 .^ J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020" . Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy . 19 (4). doi :10.1089/elj.2020.0666 . Retrieved 14 January 2022 . ^ a b Hunt, Keel (2018). Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America ISBN 978-0-8265-2241-2 ^ Doble, Rob (December 24, 2020). "Analysis: The polarization express" . Tennessee Lookout . Retrieved May 28, 2021 . ^ Clouse, Allie (November 6, 2020). "As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP" . Knoxville News-Sentinel . Retrieved May 28, 2021 . ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Tennessee" . US Election Atlas. Retrieved October 26, 2022 . ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (1864-11-18). "Chicago tribune. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1864–1872, November 18, 1864, Image 2" . ISSN 2572-9977 . Retrieved 2021-12-05 .
Works cited
External links
Tennessee at Ballotpedia Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Tennessee" , Voting & Elections Toolkits "Tennessee: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links" , Vote.org "League of Women Voters of Tennessee" .League of Women Voters )"State Elections Legislation Database" , Ncsl.org , Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures , State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020
