2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election

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2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election
Flag of Tennessee.svg
  2002 November 7, 2006 2010  
Turnout49.97% Decrease2.svg [1] 0.43 pp
  Governor Bredesen (cropped).jpg Jim Bryson Tennessee.jpg
Nominee Phil Bredesen Jim Bryson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,247,491540,853
Percentage68.60%29.74%

2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
2006 Tennessee Gubernatorial Election by congressional district.svg
2006 TN Gov.svg
Bredesen:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Bryson:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Tie:      50%

Governor before election

Phil Bredesen
Democratic

Elected Governor

Phil Bredesen
Democratic

The 2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic governor Phil Bredesen was re-elected to a second term with 68.6% of the vote, defeating his Republican challenger Jim Bryson. Improving on his performance from 2002, Bredesen also carried every county in the state.

Contents

As of 2025, this was the last time a Democrat won a majority of counties in the state, the last time a Democrat won any statewide race in Tennessee, and the most recent statewide election in Tennessee in which 88 of the state's 95 counties, including Knox County and Hamilton County, went to the Democratic candidate. Only Davidson, Shelby, Haywood, Hardeman, Houston, Jackson, and Lake counties have voted for a Democratic candidate in a presidential, Senate, or gubernatorial race since 2006. Eight years after this, Republican governor Bill Haslam would win every county in the state when he won re-election. This marked a sharp political shift in Tennessee.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic Party primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Phil Bredesen (incumbent) 393,004 88.50
Democratic John Jay Hooker31,9337.19
Democratic Tim Sevier11,5622.60
Democratic Walt Ward7,5551.70
Total votes444,054 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

County results
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Bryson
<40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
Farmer
<40% Tennessee Governor R Primary 2006.svg
County results
  Bryson
  •   <40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Farmer
  •   <40%
Republican Primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Bryson 160,786 50.03
Republican David M. Farmer50,90015.84
Republican Joe Kirkpatrick34,49110.73
Republican Mark Albertini29,1849.08
Republican Wayne Thomas Bailey24,2737.55
Republican Wayne Young11,9973.73
Republican Timothy Thomas9,7473.03
Total votes321,378 100.00

General election

Candidates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [4] Solid DNovember 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5] Safe DNovember 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report [6] Safe DNovember 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics [7] Likely DNovember 6, 2006

Polling

SourceDatePhil
Bredesen (D)
Jim
Bryson (R)
Survey USA [8] October 25, 200666%28%
Survey USA [9] October 10, 200663%32%
Accuratings [10] October 24, 200667%33%
The Commercial Appeal [11] October 3, 200663%22%
Rasmussen [12] October 3, 200663%28%
Rasmussen [13] September 7, 200658%31%
Zogby [14] June 13, 200658%22%

Results

2006 Tennessee Gubernatorial County Flips.svg

By county

By county
County [16] Phil Bredesen
Democratic
Jim Bryson
Republican
Other votes
 %# %# %
Anderson 72.4%16,88125.9%6,0491.7%
Bedford 68.2%7,24030.3%3,2151.5%
Benton 74.8%4,12823.1%1,2732.1%
Bledsoe 57.8%2,27439.6%1,5602.6%
Blount 65.4%23,43332.9%11,7911.7%
Bradley 55.2%14,49243.4%11,4011.4%
Campbell 67.5%6,79330.5%3,0731.9%
Cannon 70.4%2,97827.6%1,1672.0%
Carroll 70.3%6,37927.5%2,4932.3%
Carter 56.6%9,21141.1%6,6862.3%
Cheatham 65.3%7,50633.3%3,8241.5%
Chester 62.6%2,73035.5%1,5472.0%
Claiborne 62.1%4,73235.3%2,6932.6%
Clay 69.2%1,71727.6%6853.2%
Cocke 59.2%5,74138.7%3,7522.2%
Coffee 68.4%10,49829.5%4,5342.1%
Crockett 74.0%3,29924.4%1,0901.6%
Cumberland 61.3%11,74137.4%7,1721.3%
Davidson 76.0%132,71222.3%38,9771.7%
Decatur 70.7%2,79127.1%1,0682.2%
DeKalb 69.8%3,84828.3%1,5591.9%
Dickson 69.4%10,01628.9%4,1641.7%
Dyer 69.5%7,64228.5%3,1302.1%
Fayette 61.8%7,70136.9%4,5991.3%
Fentress 55.4%2,85942.8%2,2071.8%
Franklin 71.8%9,17926.8%3,4301.3%
Gibson 73.6%11,47324.9%3,8901.5%
Giles 72.0%6,13526.3%2,2431.7%
Grainger 59.7%3,28938.1%2,1002.1%
Greene 57.9%10,66940.1%7,3762.0%
Grundy 70.1%2,69226.7%1,0243.3%
Hamblen 62.3%10,37736.4%6,0571.3%
Hamilton 70.3%75,26128.5%30,4821.3%
Hancock 50.8%96046.6%8802.6%
Hardeman 75.6%5,89522.3%1,7402.1%
Hardin 63.6%4,66634.3%2,5162.1%
Hawkins 60.3%8,90337.6%5,5522.0%
Haywood 80.0%4,72218.5%1,0931.5%
Henderson 61.7%5,29335.8%3,0722.4%
Henry 73.9%7,28924.4%2,4021.7%
Hickman 70.5%4,71427.6%1,8441.9%
Houston 77.7%2,11120.9%5671.4%
Humphreys 76.9%4,82421.6%1,3541.5%
Jackson 74.0%2,89523.6%9242.4%
Jefferson 62.5%8,30736.0%4,7821.5%
Johnson 51.6%2,49145.9%2,2142.5%
Knox 71.5%87,53727.2%33,2661.4%
Lake 81.1%1,25216.6%2572.3%
Lauderdale 75.0%5,14622.8%1,5672.1%
Lawrence 63.0%7,84335.3%4,3991.7%
Lewis 63.5%2,50632.9%1,2973.7%
Lincoln 60.3%4,89037.7%3,0592.0%
Loudon 66.3%10,79732.3%5,2571.5%
McMinn 60.3%8,29937.7%5,1952.0%
McNairy 62.7%4,85535.0%2,7082.3%
Macon 63.7%3,50734.8%1,9171.5%
Madison 72.9%21,88925.9%7,7711.2%
Marion 70.0%6,16227.3%2,4072.6%
Marshall 72.4%6,05026.1%2,1781.6%
Maury 69.8%16,27429.1%6,7781.2%
Meigs 62.6%2,04635.4%1,1562.0%
Monroe 59.8%7,48438.9%4,8761.3%
Montgomery 71.0%25,46525.6%9,1853.3%
Moore 65.1%1,38832.8%7002.0%
Morgan 68.4%3,45429.8%1,5071.7%
Obion 76.9%7,53920.9%2,0492.2%
Overton 73.4%4,82025.0%1,6451.6%
Perry 71.6%1,67325.7%6002.7%
Pickett 56.6%1,20541.8%8901.6%
Polk 62.9%3,21834.6%1,7722.5%
Putnam 68.9%13,83029.3%5,8791.8%
Rhea 59.1%5,00438.9%3,2971.9%
Roane 70.7%12,38927.5%4,8071.8%
Robertson 67.1%12,66431.8%5,9951.1%
Rutherford 65.2%40,03433.5%20,5351.3%
Scott 61.1%3,23036.5%1,9312.3%
Sequatchie 65.9%2,76132.2%1,3512.0%
Sevier 57.4%13,35538.8%9,0233.8%
Shelby 67.4%210,47020.7%64,59311.9%
Smith 69.4%4,71922.6%1,5312.9%
Stewart 77.8%3,31422.3%9523.4%
Sullivan 60.9%27,02439.5%17,4792.6%
Sumner 62.8%29,71333.7%15,9382.8%
Tipton 63.2%10,43335.5%5,8431.3%
Trousdale 78.3%2,00021.8%5570.0%
Unicoi 61.6%3,29839.1%2,0951.3%
Union 62.6%2,74337.7%1,6530.0%
Van Buren 71.7%1,34728.3%5330.0%
Warren 74.6%8,32425.5%2,8481.9%
Washington 62.3%21,09236.9%12,3601.0%
Wayne 55.4%2,23245.5%1,8311.0%
Weakley 73.5%7,23326.6%2,6213.3%
White 70.6%5,23128.9%2,1402.6%
Williamson 58.2%35,05842.2%25,3841.4%
Wilson 64.5%23,20733.3%11,9902.2%

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2006". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  2. "August 3, 2006, Democratic Primary: Governor" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  3. "August 3, 2006, Republican Primary: Governor" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  4. "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  5. "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  6. "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  7. "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  8. Survey USA
  9. Survey USA
  10. Accuratings Archived December 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  11. The Commercial Appeal
  12. Rasmussen
  13. Rasmussen
  14. Zogby
  15. "November 7, 2006, General Election: Governor" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  16. "2006 Gubernatorial Results by County" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved February 18, 2023.

Official campaign websites (Archived)