1984 United States Senate election in Tennessee

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1984 United States Senate election in Tennessee
Flag of Tennessee.svg
  1978 November 6, 1984 1990  
  Sengore2.jpg Victor Ashe (2).jpg No image.svg
Nominee Al Gore Victor Ashe Ed McAteer
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote1,000,607557,01687,234
Percentage60.72%33.80%5.29%

1984 United States Senate election in Tennessee results map by county.svg
County results
Gore:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Ashe:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Howard Baker
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Al Gore
Democratic

The 1984 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 1984, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee. Popular three-term Republican incumbent Howard Baker, who had served as United States Senate Majority Leader since 1981 (Minority Leader from 1977 to 1981) decided not to seek re-election in order to concentrate on a planned bid for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination (which did not happen, as he later accepted a White House Chief of Staff position under President Ronald Reagan). This left the seat open.

Contents

In the general election, Democratic candidate Al Gore, son of former senator Albert Gore Sr., won easily, flipping the Republican held seat to Democratic hands.

Democratic Primary

Democrats nominated Representative and future Vice President of the United States Al Gore, whose father, Albert Gore, Sr., had once held Tennessee's other Senate seat.

Results

Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Al Gore 476,582 100.00%
Total votes476,582 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

In the primary, held on August 2, Ashe easily emerged as a winner.

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Victor Ashe 145,744 86.47%
Republican Jack McNeil17,97010.66%
Republican Herbert David Patty4,7772.83%
Republican Write-in490.03%
Total votes168,540 100%

General election

Al Gore 1984 campaign poster AlGoreSenateWord.jpg
Al Gore 1984 campaign poster

Although the Senate election coincided with the landslide re-election of President Reagan, who carried Tennessee by a wide margin, this time his victory did not have any coattails, as it did in 1980, and Democrats picked up three Republican seats. One of the Democratic gains was in Tennessee, where conservative Democrat Gore won in a landslide: [2]

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Al Gore 1,000,607 60.72%
Republican Victor Ashe 557,01633.80%
Independent Ed McAteer87,2345.29%
Independent Khalil-Ullah Al-Muhaymin3,1790.19%
Total votes1,648,036 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

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References

  1. "TN US Senate- R Primary Race - Aug 02, 1984". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  2. "TN US Senate Race - Nov 06, 1984". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 19, 2022.