2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

For related races, see 2002 United States House of Representatives elections.

2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

←  2000 November 5, 2002 (2002-11-05) 2004  →
All 9 Tennessee seats to the United States House of Representatives
Turnout	50.40% [1] 12.63 pp
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 4 5 Seats won 5 4 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 708,290 770,514 Percentage 46.31% 50.38% Swing 2.14% 3.11%
Party gains District results County results      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold Democratic   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100%

The 2002 congressional elections in Tennessee was held on November 5, 2002, to determine who will represent the state of Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives.

Tennessee's congressional districts from 2002

These elections were the first under Tennessee's new congressional map after redistricting was completed by the state government. ^[2] Following the 2002 elections, Democrat Lincoln Davis flipped Tennessee's 4th congressional district, which was previously represented by Republican Van Hilleary. This flipped the Tennessee delegation to a 5–4 Democratic majority. ^[3]

Tennessee was one of six states in which the party that won the state's popular vote did not win a majority of seats in 2002, the other states being Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas.

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2002 [4]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Democratic	708,290	46.31%	5	1
	Republican	770,514	50.38%	4	1
	Independents	48,450	3.17%	0	—
Totals		1,529,309	100.00%	9	—

(There was 2,055 Write-in votes that were added to the statewide total number of votes).

Popular vote Republican   50.38% Democratic   46.31% Other   3.30%

House seats Democratic   55.56% Republican   44.44%

By district

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee 1	Bill Jenkins	Republican	1996	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bill Jenkins (Republican) Uncontested
Tennessee 2	Jimmy Duncan	Republican	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jimmy Duncan (Republican) 78.98% ▌John Greene (Democratic) 19.91% Others ▌Joshua Williamson (Independent) 0.60% ▌George Njezic (Independent) 0.51%
Tennessee 3	Zach Wamp	Republican	1994	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Zach Wamp (Republican) 64.54% ▌ John Wolfe Jr. (Democratic) 33.82% ▌William Bolen (Independent) 1.00% ▌Timothy Sevier (Independent) 0.54%
Tennessee 4	Van Hilleary	Republican	1994	Incumbent retired to run for Governor of Tennessee. New member elected. Democratic gain.	▌Y Lincoln Davis (Democratic) 52.08% ▌ Janice Bowling (Republican) 46.49% Others ▌William Chandler (Independent) 0.58% ▌John Ray (Independent) 0.33% ▌Bert Mason (Independent) 0.27% ▌Ed Wellmann (Independent) 0.22%
Tennessee 5	Bob Clement	Democratic	1988	Incumbent retired to run for U.S. senator. New member elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Jim Cooper (Democratic) 63.73% ▌Robert Duvall (Republican) 33.25% ▌ John Jay Hooker (Independent) 1.79% Others ▌Jonathan Farley (Independent) 0.71% ▌Jesse Turner (Independent) 0.51%
Tennessee 6	Bart Gordon	Democratic	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bart Gordon (Democratic) 65.92% ▌Robert Garrison (Republican) 32.33% ▌Patrick Lyons (Independent) 1.73%
Tennessee 7	Ed Bryant	Republican	1994	Incumbent retired to run for U.S. senator. New member elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Marsha Blackburn (Republican) 70.73% ▌Tim Barron (Democratic) 26.48% ▌Rick Patterson (Independent) 2.77%
Tennessee 8	John S. Tanner	Democratic	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John S. Tanner (Democratic) 70.14% ▌Mat McClain (Republican) 27.30% ▌ James L. Hart (Independent) 2.55%
Tennessee 9	Harold Ford Jr.	Democratic	1996	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Harold Ford Jr. (Democratic) 83.81% ▌Tony Rush (Independent) 16.09%

District 1

See also: Tennessee's 1st congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 1st congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Jenkins (inc.)	127,300	98.77%
	Write-In	Write-ins	1,586	1.23%
Total votes			128,886	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 2

See also: Tennessee's 2nd congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 2nd congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Duncan (inc.)	146,887	78.98%
	Democratic	John Greene	37,035	19.91%
	Independent	Joshua Williamson	1,110	0.60%
	Independent	George Njezic	940	0.51%
	Write-In	Write-ins	9	0.00%
Total votes			185,981	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 3

See also: Tennessee's 3rd congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 3rd congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Zach Wamp (inc.)	112,254	64.54%
	Democratic	John Wolfe	58,824	33.82%
	Independent	William C. Bolen	1,743	1.00%
	Independent	Timothy A. Sevier	947	0.54%
	Write-In	Write-ins	153	0.09%
Total votes			173,921	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 4

See also: Tennessee's 4th congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Lean D (flip)	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Lean D (flip)	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 4th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lincoln Davis	95,989	52.08%
	Republican	Janice Bowling	85,680	46.49%
	Independent	William Tharon Chandler	1,073	0.58%
	Independent	John Ray	605	0.33%
	Independent	Bert Mason	504	0.27%
	Independent	Ed Wellmann	399	0.22%
	Write-In	Write-ins	50	0.03%
Total votes			184,300	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 5

See also: Tennessee's 5th congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 5th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	108,903	63.73%
	Republican	Robert Duvall	56,825	33.25%
	Independent	John Jay Hooker	3,063	1.79%
	Independent	Jonathan D. Farley	1,205	0.71%
	Independent	Jesse Turner	877	0.51%
	Write-In	Write-ins	13	0.01%
Total votes			170,886	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 6

See also: Tennessee's 6th congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 6th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bart Gordon (inc.)	117,034	65.92%
	Republican	Robert L. Garrison	57,401	32.33%
	Independent	J. Patrick Lyons	3,065	1.73%
	Write-In	Write-ins	47	0.03%
Total votes			177,547	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 7

See also: Tennessee's 7th congressional district

Republican primary

Nominee

• Marsha Blackburn, state senator ^[7]

Eliminated in primary

• Brent Taylor, city councilor ^[7]
• David Kustoff, former chair of the Republican Party of Shelby County and George W. Bush's campaign chair in Tennessee ^[8]
• Forrest Shoaf
• Mark Norris, state senator ^[7]
• Randy Starkey
• Sonny Carlota

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marsha Blackburn	36,633	40.32%
	Republican	David Kustoff	18,392	20.24%
	Republican	Brent Taylor	14,139	15.56%
	Republican	Mark Norris	13,104	14.42%
	Republican	Forrest Shoaf	7,319	8.06%
	Republican	Sonny Carlota	642	0.71%
	Republican	Randy Starkey	628	0.69%
	Write-in		9	0.00%
Total votes			90,866	100.00%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 7th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marsha Blackburn	138,314	70.73%
	Democratic	Tim Barron	51,790	26.48%
	Independent	Rick Patterson	5,423	2.77%
	Write-In	Write-ins	31	0.02%
Total votes			195,558	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 8

See also: Tennessee's 8th congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 8th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Tanner (inc.)	117,811	70.14%
	Republican	Mat McClain	45,853	27.30%
	Independent	James L. Hart	4,288	2.55%
	Write-In	Write-ins	18	0.01%
Total votes			167,970	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 9

See also: Tennessee's 9th congressional district

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times [6]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Tennessee's 9th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harold Ford Jr. (inc.)	120,904	83.81%
	Independent	Tony Rush	23,208	16.09%
	Write-In	Write-ins	148	0.10%
Total votes			144,260	100.00%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 2002 United States Senate election in Tennessee
• 2002 Tennessee elections
• 2002 United States elections

References

1. "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2002". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 5, 2002. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
2. "2000s Redistricting Case Summaries". www.ncsl.org. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
3. "CNN.com Election 2002 - SpatiaLogic Map: House". www.cnn.com. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
4. "Historical Election Results | Tennessee Secretary of State". sos.tn.gov. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
5. "50 most competitive House races of 2002". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2002. Archived from the original on November 6, 2002. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
6. "2002 Senate, House and Governor Ratings". The New York Times. October 14, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
7. "Our Campaigns - TN District 7 - R Primary Race - Aug 01, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
8. "Article clipped from The Leaf-Chronicle". The Leaf-Chronicle. August 9, 2002. p. 2. Retrieved September 13, 2025.