The speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the lower chamber of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The speaker is elected by other members of the House for a two-year term. The current Speaker is Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville). Sexton was elected and took over from Acting-Speaker Bill Dunn, who assumed office upon the resignation of Glen Casada, effective August 2, 2019. [1]
Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives [2] | ||||
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Name | Term | Party | Life | Notes |
David Wilson | 1794–1795 | c. 1752–1803 | Speaker of the Southwest Territory House of Representatives | |
Joseph Hardin | 1795–1796 | 1734–1801 | Speaker of the Southwest Territory House of Representatives | |
James Stuart | 1796–1799 | c. 1751–1816 | ||
William Dickson | 1799–1803 | Democratic-Republican | 1770–1816 | |
James Stuart | 1803–1805 | c. 1751–1816 | ||
Robert Coleman Foster | 1805–1807 | 1769–1844 | ||
John Tipton | 1807–1809 | 1767-1831 | ||
Joseph Dickson | 1809–1811 | Federalist | 1745–1825 | |
Thomas Henderson [3] | 1811-1812 | Democratic-Republican | 1742-c.1827/32 | |
John Cocke | 1812–1813 | Democratic-Republican | 1772–1854 | |
Thomas Claiborne | 1813–1815 | Democratic | 1780–1856 | |
James Fentress | 1815–1817 | Democratic | 1763–1843 | |
Thomas Williamson | 1817–1819 | 1767–1825 | ||
James Fentress | 1819–1825 | Democratic | 1763–1843 | |
William Brady | 1825–1827 | d. 1835 | ||
John H. Camp | 1827–1829 | 1783–1829 | ||
Ephraim H. Foster | 1829–1831 | 1794–1854 | ||
Frederick W. Huling | 1831–1835 | Democratic | ||
Ephraim H. Foster | 1835–1837 | Whig | 1794–1854 | |
John Cocke | 1837–1839 | Whig | 1772–1854 | |
Jonas E. Thomas | 1839–1841 | Democratic | 1803–1856 | |
Burchet Douglass | 1841–1842 | Whig | 1793–1849 | |
Franklin Buchanan | 1842–1843 | Whig | c. 1813–1851 | |
Daniel L. Barringer | 1843–1845 | Whig | 1788–1852 | |
Brookins Campbell | 1845–1847 | Democratic | 1808–1853 | |
Franklin Buchanan | 1847–1849 | Whig | c. 1813–1851 | |
Landon Carter Haynes | 1849–1851 | Democratic | 1816–1875 | |
Jordan Stokes | 1851–1853 | Whig | 1817–1886 | |
William H. Wisener | 1853–1855 | Whig | 1812–1882 | |
Neill S. Brown | 1855–1857 | Whig | 1818–1878 | |
Daniel S. Donelson | 1857–1859 | Democratic | 1801–1863 | |
Washington C. Whitthorne | 1859–1861 | Democratic | 1825–1891 | |
Edwin A. Keeble | 1861–1862 | Democratic | 1807–1868 | The state government was replaced by a military government in 1862 |
William Heiskell | 1865–1867 | Conservative Republican | 1788–1871 | Confusion over apparent resignation in July 1866 for refusing to sign the 14th Amendment |
F.S. Richardson | 1867–1869 | Radical Republican | ||
William O'Neal Perkins | 1869–1871 | Conservative Republican | 1815–1895 | |
James D. Richardson | 1871–1873 | Democratic | 1843–1914 | New state constitution adopted in 1870 |
William S. McGaughey | 1873–1875 | Democratic | 1821–1889 | |
Lewis Bond | 1875–1877 | Democratic | 1839–1878 | |
Edwin T. Taliaferro | 1877–1879 | Democratic | 1849–1919 | |
Henry P. Fowlkes | 1879–1881 | Democratic | 1843–1817 | |
Henry B. Ramsey | 1881–1883 | Republican | 1847–1897 | |
Washington L. Ledgerwood | 1883–1885 | Democratic | 1843–1911 | |
James A. Manson | 1885–1887 | Democratic | 1842–1901 | |
Walter L. Clapp | 1887–1891 | Democratic | 1850–1901 | |
Thomas R. Myers | 1891–1893 | Democratic | 1840–1919 | |
Ralph Davis | 1893 | Democratic | 1866–1952 | |
Julius A. Trousdale | 1893–1895 | Democratic | 1840–1899 | |
John A. Tipton | 1895–1897 | Democratic | 1858–1925 | |
Morgan C. Fitzpatrick | 1897–1899 | Democratic | 1868–1908 | |
Joseph W. Byrns | 1899–1901 | Democratic | 1869–1936 | |
Edgar B. Wilson | 1901–1903 | Democratic | 1874–1953 | |
Lawrence Tyson | 1903–1905 | Democratic | 1861–1929 | |
William K. Abernathy | 1905–1907 | Democratic | 1870–1940 | |
John T. Cunningham | 1907–1909 | Democratic | 1877–1945 | |
Matthew H. Taylor | 1909–1911 | Democratic | 1884–1965 | |
Albert M. Leach | 1911–1913 | Democratic | 1859–1926 | |
William M. Stanton | 1913–1915 | Democratic | 1890–1957 | |
William P. Cooper | 1915–1917 | Democratic | 1870–1961 | |
Clyde Shropshire | 1917–1919 | Democratic | 1866–1949 | |
Seth M. Walker | 1919–1921 | Democratic | 1892–1951 | |
Andrew L. Todd Sr. | 1921–1923 | Democratic | 1872–1945 | |
Frank S. Hall | 1923–1925 | Democratic | 1890–1958 | |
William F. Barry | 1925–1927 | Democratic | 1900–1967 | |
Selden Maiden | 1927–1929 | Democratic | 1883–1949 | |
Charles H. Love | 1929–1931 | Democratic | 1874–1950 | |
Walter M. Haynes | 1931–1933 | Democratic | 1897–1967 | |
Frank W. Moore | 1933–1935 | Democratic | 1905–1982 | |
Walter M. Haynes | 1935–1939 | Democratic | 1897–1967 | |
John Ed O'Dell | 1939–1943 | Democratic | 1906–1956 | |
James J. Broome | 1943–1945 | Democratic | 1884–1952 | |
George Woods | 1945–1947 | Democratic | 1913–1982 | |
William Buford Lewallen | 1947–1949 | Democratic | 1920–2003 | |
McAllen Foutch | 1949–1953 | Democratic | 1909–1996 | |
James L. Bomar Jr. | 1953–1963 | Democratic | 1914–2001 | |
Dick Barry | 1963–1967 | Democratic | 1926–2013 | |
James H. Cummings | 1967–1969 | Democratic | 1890–1979 | |
Bill Jenkins | 1969–1971 | Republican | 1936– | |
James R. McKinney | 1971–1973 | Democratic | 1931–1992 | |
Ned McWherter | 1973–1987 | Democratic | 1930–2011 | |
Ed Murray | 1987–1991 | Democratic | 1928–2009 | |
Jimmy Naifeh | 1991–2009 | Democratic | 1939– | |
Kent Williams | 2009–2011 | Republican | 1949– | |
Beth Harwell | 2011–2019 | Republican | 1957– | First woman to serve as Speaker of the House |
Glen Casada | 2019 | Republican | 1959– | Resigned |
Cameron Sexton | 2019–present | Republican | 1970– | Elected Speaker on August 23, 2019 |
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee. The Southwest Territory was created by the Southwest Ordinance from lands of the Washington District that had been ceded to the U.S. federal government by North Carolina. The territory's lone governor was William Blount.
William Hall was an American politician who served as the seventh Governor of the state of Tennessee from April to October 1829.
Joseph McMinn was an American politician who served as the fourth Governor of Tennessee from 1815 to 1821. A veteran of the American Revolution, he had previously served in the legislature of the Southwest Territory (1794–1796), and as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate (1805–1811). He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.
The Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate of Tennessee is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the governor of Tennessee.
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title and office of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. In addition to passing a budget for state government plus other legislation, the General Assembly appoints three state officers specified by the state constitution. It is also the initiating body in any process to amend the state's constitution.
The Tennessee Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Tennessee. 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 the majority of Tennessee's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, both houses of the state legislature, and the governorship.
Matthew Joseph Hill is an American talk show host, businessman, and politician who served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2005 to 2021. Hill briefly served as Deputy Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives under appointment by House Speaker Rep. Glen Casada.
Robert Coleman Foster I was a prominent Nashville, Tennessee, attorney and politician.
The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
John Bruce "Chip" Saltsman Jr. is an American politician who has served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 1999 to 2001, senior political advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and manager of Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign. He also worked for the Chuck Fleischmann campaign in Tennessee's 3rd district from 2009 to 2010. Saltsman also worked for Randy Boyd's unsuccessful Tennessee Gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
Richard Glen Casada Jr. is an American politician, and a former Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, where he represented District 63 from 2003 to 2023. He was the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from January 8, 2019 through August 2, 2019, whereupon he resigned his post amid scandal. This was the shortest stint of a Tennessee Speaker of the House in modern history. Casada was previously the Majority Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives. His opposition to Syrian refugees attracted national attention in the media in 2015.
Cameron A. Sexton is an American politician from Tennessee. A Republican, he has been a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 25th District since 2011, and has been the Speaker of the state House since 2019. Before becoming Speaker, Sexton was Majority Caucus Chairman.
James Fentress was a Tennessee politician and Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Born in New Hanover County, North Carolina in 1763, he moved to Montgomery County, Tennessee in 1800. He was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1809. He served as Speaker of the House from 1815 to 1817 and again from 1819 to 1825. Fentress later served as chairman of the Montgomery County Court and was on the committee that chose the county seats of Carroll, Gibson, Haywood, and Weakley counties.
Robin Smith is an American politician who served as the Representative for Tennessee's 26th state house district, beginning in 2018. She is a member of the Republican Party. In March 2022, she resigned and pleaded guilty to honest services wire fraud.
Tom Leatherwood is an American politician serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives from Tennessee's 99th house district, since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The 99th district includes the Northeast part of Shelby County, Tennessee, including the Town of Arlington, City of Lakeland, City of Millington, parts of North and East Bartlett, and unincorporated Northeast Shelby County.
Jay Reedy is an American politician, farmer, and locksmith from the state of Tennessee. A Republican, Reedy has represented the 74th district of the Tennessee House of Representatives, covering Houston, Humphreys, and Montgomery Counties, since 2015.
The 2022 Tennessee House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect 99 seats for the Tennessee House of Representatives. The elections coincided with the Governor, U.S. House, and State Senate elections.
Justin Shea Bautista-Jones is an American activist and politician from the state of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he serves in the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 52, representing parts of Nashville. As of 2023, Jones is the second youngest member of the State House. He was expelled in April 2023 for violating decorum rules by participating in a gun control protest on the House floor. The Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones to serve as an interim representative pending a special election to fill the seat.
Edward Meacham Yarbrough is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from 2007 to 2010. Previously an assistant district attorney in Nashville and private practice criminal defense attorney, he was nominated as U.S. Attorney by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate, with the support of Tennessee senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.