| |||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 35.97% [1] 30.37 pp | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||
Alexander: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Ball: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Tennessee |
---|
Government |
The 2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate from the State of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander defeated Democrat Gordon Ball, and was re-elected to a third term in office with 61.9% of the vote against 31.9%.
Lamar Alexander narrowly kept Shelby County in his column. Home to Memphis, Shelby County had not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1988. Notably, Alexander flipped reliably Democratic Haywood County which had not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1972, but had been trending Republican in recent years. However, he did lose Davidson County, a county which he narrowly flipped back in 2008. This county is home to Tennessee's capital, Nashville.
Lamar Alexander was reelected with 65.1% of the vote in the 2008 election. He stepped down from his leadership role as Republican Conference Chairman of the United States Senate in 2011, but announced that he would seek re-election to a third term. [2] Nashville businessman, counseling executive and former 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Larry Crim filed his announcement of candidacy with the Secretary of the United States Senate in January 2013. [3]
Although Alexander was initially thought to be vulnerable to a primary challenge from the right, he worked to avoid this and ultimately did not face a high-profile challenger. He declared his intention to run early, quickly won the endorsement of Governor Bill Haslam, every living former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman and the state's entire Republican congressional delegation (except scandal-hit Scott DesJarlais). He also raised a large amount of money and worked to avoid the mistakes of ousted Senators Bob Bennett and Richard Lugar by trying to stay in touch with his constituents, especially in East Tennessee. Moreover, out-of-state conservative organizations such as the Senate Conservatives Fund made little effort to defeat Alexander. [4]
During his re-election campaign in 2008, Alexander faced no opponents in the Republican primary. [5] As early as July 2013, it was obvious that the same would not be true in 2014. The weekend of July 20, 2013, a rally was held in Smyrna in opposition to Alexander. Activists attending the event included Williamson County GOP leader Kevin Kookogey. [6] By mid-August, Triton Polling released a poll showing Alexander trailing "a generic conservative" by 4.6 points. [7] But no "generic conservative" seemed to want to step up. In search of a candidate, a "Beat Lamar" PAC held a forum and invited Kookogey, Knox County mayor Tim Burchett, and Alexander's only formal opponent at the time, Brenda Lenard of Knoxville. [8]
On August 20, 2013, State Representative Joe Carr announced his candidacy. He had previously been opposing Scott Desjarlais in the race for Tennessee's 4th congressional district, but swapped races under public pressure. [9] Kookogey soon dropped out of the race. [10] Four candidates were then vetted in September by the "Coalition for a Constitutional Senate": Carr, truck driver Jerry Davis, business owner John McDaniel, and electrician Danny Page. [11] The coalition ultimately endorsed Carr with 59% of the vote, [12] [13] but some felt that Carr's nomination was coerced by the leaders of the Beat Lamar PAC. [14] [15] Independent candidate Danny Page was especially vocal on that issue. [16]
Entering the race late was George Flinn, a radiologist from Memphis who had run for Congress against Steve Cohen in 2012. [17] There was some speculation that Flinn was a spoiler deployed by Alexander to steal Tea Party votes from Carr. [17]
In the primary's final stretch Carr was endorsed by Sarah Palin, [18] but he did not receive much other support from outside of Tennessee, failing to receive endorsements from the Senate Conservatives Fund [19] or the Club for Growth. [20]
Ultimately, Alexander won the primary, though he recorded the lowest winning percentage (49.7%) and lowest margin of victory (9.2 points) ever in a primary for a Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Carr won a larger percentage of the vote (40.5%) than the previous 11 challengers to sitting Republican U.S. Senators in Tennessee history combined (40.3%). [21]
Individuals
Individuals
Organizations
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander | Joe Carr | George Flinn | Brenda Lenard | Danny Page | Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Star Opinion Research* [43] | August 19–22, 2013 | 600 | ± 4% | 64% | 22% | — | — | — | — | 14% |
69% | — | — | 16% | — | — | 15% | ||||
Public Policy Polling^ [44] | December 2–3, 2013 | 391 | ± 5% | 46% | 40% | — | — | — | — | 14% |
MTSU [45] | January 23–26, 2014 | ? | ± ? | 40% | 7% | — | — | — | 4% | 49% |
North Star Opinion Research* [46] | February 3–6, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 62% | 17% | — | 2% | 1% | — | 18% |
North Star Opinion Research* [47] | May 12–14, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 56% | 14% | — | 1% | 1% | — | 22% |
Tea Party Nation/Triton [48] | May 22, 2014 | 1,100 | ± ? | 44% | 20% | — | — | — | 9% | 27% |
Tea Party Nation/Triton [49] | July 10–11, 2014 | 1,099 | ± 2.9% | 43% | 36% | — | — | — | — | 21% |
North Star Opinion Research* [50] | July 20–22, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 53% | 21% | — | — | — | 9% | 15% |
North Star Opinion Research* [51] | July 27–29, 2014 | 600 | ± 4% | 53% | 24% | — | 1% | 1% | 5% | 16% |
Red Racing Horses & PMI inc. [52] | July 28–30, 2014 | 400 | ± 5% | 41% | 29% | 5% | — | — | 5% | 20% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander | Someone more conservative | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Triton Polling | August 15–16, 2013 | 680 | ± 3.7% | 44.9% | 49.5% | 5.6% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander | Tim Burchett | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Star Opinion Research [53] | August 19–22, 2013 | 600 | ± 4% | 62% | 23% | 15% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander | Kevin Kookogey | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Star Opinion Research [53] | August 19–22, 2013 | 600 | ± 4% | 69% | 15% | 16% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Lamar Alexander (incumbent) | 331,705 | 49.65% | |
Republican | Joe Carr | 271,324 | 40.61% | |
Republican | George Shea Flinn | 34,668 | 5.19% | |
Republican | Christian Agnew | 11,320 | 1.69% | |
Republican | Brenda S. Lenard | 7,908 | 1.18% | |
Republican | John D. King | 7,748 | 1.16% | |
Republican | Erin Kent Magee | 3,366 | 0.52% | |
Total votes | 668,039 | 100.00% |
Public figures
Newspapers
Public figures
Newspapers
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gordon Ball | 87,829 | 36.45% | |
Democratic | Terry Adams | 85,794 | 35.61% | |
Democratic | Gary Gene Davis | 42,549 | 17.66% | |
Democratic | Larry Crim | 24,777 | 10.28% | |
Total votes | 240,949 | 100.00% |
Tennessee State Government
Members of US Congress
Former Tennessee officials
U.S. governors
Individuals
Other
The first debate was held in Chattanooga, sponsored by Democrats United For Tennessee Inc. and Central Labor Council Members which included 15 candidates for state and federal office, attended by Larry Crim for U.S. Senate. [81] Crim criticized Senators Bob Corker of Chattanooga and Lamar Alexander of Nashville for overreaching into the free enterprise of VW and their works councils, which Crim stated also implicated free association rights of the company, workers and labor and the free vote. [82] U.S. Senate candidate Larry Crim and UAW International Rep. Tom Savage spoke on the importance of free elections at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga at the debate. The debate and forum were held at the Kingdom Center of Olivet Baptist Church.
Crim said, "Protecting voter rights for a free and fair election are as fundamental to expressing the will of workers in the workplace as it is to Americans at the polling place... For a U.S. Senator to offer incentives or threaten withdrawing public resources based on whether workers vote to recognize the union interferes with their free choice," continued the Democratic candidate for United States Senate. "It seems clear that there was an overreach here and I stand with labor on that," said Crim. [83]
The second debate was held in Bolivar and attended by Democrats Gordon Ball and Terry Adams, Republican George Flinn, and independents Ed Gauthier and Danny Page. The attendees criticized Alexander and Carr for not attending. [84] [85]
The third was a "candidates' forum" after the primary in Cookeville on October 16. Only Republican nominee Lamar Alexander and Democrat nominee Gordon Ball were allowed to participate. [86]
The fourth debate was on October 23 at a Sheraton Hotel across from the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. The nominees for the Democratic Party (Gordon Ball), Libertarian Party (Joshua James), Green Party (Martin Pleasant), and Constitution Party (Joe Wilmoth) were all in attendance, as well as independents Tom Emerson, Ed Gauthier, and Danny Page. [87] The moderator was blogger Tom Humphrey of the blog "Humphrey on the Hill". The candidates discussed a number of issues, including abortion, the Islamic State, Common Core education standards, and global warming, but the issue that stuck most with the media was marijuana. There was a general consensus among the seven candidates in attendance that the federal government should not be involved in the issue, and that authority on marijuana should be reserved to the states and people. [88] Incumbent senator Lamar Alexander declined to participate in the debate, and was mocked by Democrat Gordon Ball as being "chicken". Alexander was speaking in front of various groups in Nashville and Murfreesboro that day. [87]
The fifth and sixth debates were held in Johnson City and Crossville, and featured candidates Gordon Ball and Danny Page. Senator Alexander was invited, but attended neither. [89] [90]
In September, an education summit was held in Nashville by Governor Bill Haslam. A protest of the summit (which was largely a protest of the "Common Core" standards) was attended by Democrat Gordon Ball and independent Danny Page. [91]
In late September, eleven members of the Tennessee General Assembly who had backed Joe Carr in the primaries announced they would back Alexander in the general election, saying, "We feel that it is vitally important to the country that we stand together and support replacing the liberal agenda that is now in control of the United States Senate". Carr himself abstained from the endorsement. [75]
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report [92] | Solid R | November 3, 2014 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball [93] | Safe R | November 3, 2014 |
Rothenberg Political Report [94] | Safe R | November 3, 2014 |
Real Clear Politics [95] | Safe R | November 3, 2014 |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander (R) | Gordon Ball (D) | Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rasmussen Reports [96] | April 29–30, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 51% | 25% | 10% | 15% |
CBS News/New York Times [97] | July 5–24, 2014 | 1,465 | ± 5.4% | 48% | 33% | 14% | 5% |
Rasmussen Reports [96] | August 11–12, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 47% | 32% | 10% | 12% |
CBS News/NYT/YouGov [98] | August 18 – September 2, 2014 | 1,056 | ± 4% | 47% | 32% | 10% | 11% |
CBS News/NYT/YouGov [99] | September 20 – October 1, 2014 | 1,007 | ± 4% | 53% | 32% | 2% | 12% |
CBS News/NYT/YouGov [99] | October 16–23, 2014 | 974 | ± 5% | 55% | 33% | 2% | 10% |
With Adams
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lamar Alexander (R) | Terry Adams (D) | Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling ^ [100] | December 2–3, 2013 | 531 | ± 4.3% | 45% | 32% | — | 23% |
Rasmussen Reports [96] | April 29–30, 2014 | 750 | ± 4% | 50% | 26% | 10% | 15% |
CBS News/New York Times [97] | July 5–24, 2014 | 1,465 | ± 5.4% | 48% | 35% | 7% | 10% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Lamar Alexander (incumbent) | 850,087 | 61.87% | −3.27% | |
Democratic | Gordon Ball | 437,848 | 31.87% | +0.23% | |
Constitution | Joe Wilmoth | 36,088 | 2.63% | N/A | |
Green | Martin Pleasant | 12,570 | 0.91% | N/A | |
Independent | Tom Emerson, Jr. | 11,157 | 0.81% | N/A | |
Independent | Danny Page | 7,713 | 0.56% | N/A | |
Independent | Rick Tyler | 5,759 | 0.42% | N/A | |
Independent | Joshua James | 5,678 | 0.41% | N/A | |
Independent | Bartholomew J. Phillips | 2,386 | 0.17% | N/A | |
Independent | Edmund L. Gauthier | 2,314 | 0.17% | N/A | |
Independent | Eric Schechter | 1,673 | 0.12% | N/A | |
Independent | Choudhury Salekin | 787 | 0.06% | N/A | |
Write-in | 5 | 0.00% | N/A | ||
Total votes | 1,374,065 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
Republican hold |
Alexander won 7 of 9 congressional districts. [102]
District | Alexander | Ball | Representative |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 72% | 21% | Phil Roe |
2nd | 66% | 27% | Jimmy Duncan |
3rd | 67% | 28% | Chuck Fleischmann |
4th | 65% | 28% | Scott DesJarlais |
5th | 46% | 49% | Jim Cooper |
6th | 66% | 26% | Diane Black |
7th | 66% | 27% | Marsha Blackburn |
8th | 69% | 25% | Stephen Fincher |
9th | 32% | 64% | Steve Cohen |
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987 and the 5th United States secretary of education from 1991 to 1993, where he helped with the implementation of Education 2000.
Robert Nelson Clement is an American politician and academic administrator. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee, from 1988 until 2003, when he retired to run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate.
Roy Herron was an American politician, attorney, and author. He was the Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. He was the Tennessee State Senator for the 24th district for 16 years and for 10 years before that the State Representative for the 76th district. He was the 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 8th congressional district.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 4, 2008, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate from the State of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican U.S. senator Lamar Alexander won re-election to a second term.
Anna Belle Clement O'Brien was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics." She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 89th General Assembly, from 1975 to 1977, and a Tennessee State Senator in the 90th to 99th General Assemblies, from 1977 to 1996. While she was not the first woman ever to be in the Tennessee Senate, she was the first woman ever to be a chairman of a committee. Senator Mildred Jolly Lashlee was Chair of the Public Utilities Committee 1945-1947 which was absorbed into Energy & Natural Resources Committee during Senator O'Brien's tenure. During her 22 years in the General Assembly, she was the chairperson for three committees: Education, Transportation, and the Democratic Caucus.
The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Tennessee. The party was founded in 1826 initially as the Jacksonian Party. The Tennessee Democratic Party was born out of President Andrew Jackson's populist philosophy of Jacksonian democracy in the mid to late-1820s. After Jackson left office, the Democratic Party struggled in the state as the Whig Party would go on to be the dominant party in Tennessee until its collapse after the 1852 Election. Prior to the Civil War, as a result of the collapse of the former Whig Party, the Democratic Party became the dominant party in the state. After the war ended, the Republican Party would be the dominant political party during Reconstruction, but once Reconstruction ended, the Democratic Party would dominate Tennessee Politics up until 2011 when the Republican Party would gain firm control of Tennessee State Government.
The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate were contested. 33 Class 2 seats were contested for regular 6-year terms to be served from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2021, and 3 Class 3 seats were contested in special elections due to Senate vacancies. The elections marked 100 years of direct elections of U.S. senators. Going into the elections, 21 of the contested seats were held by the Democratic Party, while 15 were held by the Republican Party.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the general election including the 2012 U.S. presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker won a second term in a landslide, defeating Democrat Marck Clayton, carrying all but two counties in the state.
The 2014 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Haslam was re-elected to a second term with 70.3% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger Charles Brown. Improving on his performance from 2010, Haslam also carried every county in the state.
Joe S. Carr is a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, and a member of the Tennessee Republican Party. Representative Carr was first elected as a state representative from the 48th legislative district in 2008 for the 106th Tennessee General Assembly. He served from 2008 through 2014 before stepping down to run against Senator Lamar Alexander in the Tennessee Republican Primary. Representative Carr ran an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate in the Republican primary, challenging incumbent Republican Lamar Alexander. On May 3, 2022, Carr won the Republican nomination for Rutherford County Mayor, and he went on to win the general election on August 4, 2022.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States. The primaries were held on August 4.
The 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Haslam was term-limited, and is prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. Republican candidate Bill Lee was elected with 59.6% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee and former Nashville mayor Karl Dean.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 2018, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican senator Bob Corker opted to retire instead of running for a third term. Republican U.S. representative Marsha Blackburn won the open seat, defeating former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 3, 2020, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate. The 2020 U.S. presidential election and elections to the U.S. House of Representatives were also held, as well as the State Senate and State House elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Lamar Alexander announced that he would not run for re-election on December 17, 2018. The former United States Ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty won the open seat by a large margin defeating his Democratic opponent Marquita Bradshaw.
William Francis Hagerty IV is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat serving as the junior United States senator from Tennessee since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 30th United States ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2019 under President Donald Trump.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the gubernatorial election.
Bryan Terry is an American doctor and politician from the state of Tennessee. A Republican, he has represented the 48th district of the Tennessee House of Representatives, based in eastern Murfreesboro, since 2015. He is the only Native American serving in the chamber.
Tennessee state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as various judicial retention elections, were held on August 6, 2020.
The 2022 Tennessee State Senate election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect 17 of the 33 seats for the Tennessee's State Senate. The elections coincided with the Governor, U.S. House, and State House elections. The primary elections were held on August 4, 2022.
The 2023 Nashville mayoral election took place on August 3, 2023, to elect the next mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic Mayor John Cooper did not seek re-election to a second term in office. A wide field of candidates ran to succeed Cooper, with Democratic metro councilmember Freddie O'Connell and Republican political consultant Alice Rolli advancing to the runoff because no candidate surpassed 50% of the vote. In the runoff election, Democratic candidate Freddie O'Connell was elected with 63.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Candidate Alice Rolli, becoming the 10th mayor of metro Nashville.
Official campaign websites