2026 Tennessee Senate election

For related races, see 2026 United States state legislative elections.

Not to be confused with 2026 United States Senate election in Tennessee.

2026 Tennessee Senate election

←  2024 November 3, 2026 2028 →
17 of 33 seats in the Tennessee Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Leader Randy McNally Raumesh Akbari Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 5th–Oak Ridge 29th–Memphis Current seats 27 6 Seats needed 11 Seats up 13 4
Map of the incumbents:      Republican incumbent     Democratic incumbent      No election
Incumbent Speaker Randy McNally Republican

The 2026 Tennessee Senate election is scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026. Seventeen members of the thirty-three member Tennessee Senate, the upper chamber of Tennessee's state legislature, will be elected. Partisan primaries will take place on August 6, 2026. Tennessee has open primaries, meaning that any voter can choose to vote on either a Republican or Democratic ballot during primary elections. ^[1]

The election will be held alongside elections for numerous other federal, state, and local offices in Tennessee as part of the 2026 United States elections.

Election schedule

• March 10: Candidate petitioning deadline ^[2]
• March 17: Candidate withdrawal deadline ^[2]
• August 6: Primary election day ^[2]
  • July 7: Voter registration deadline
  • May 8 – July 27: Absentee postal voting available
  • July 17 – August 1: Early in-person voting available
• November 3: General election day ^[2]
  • October 5: Voter registration deadline
  • August 5 – October 24: Absentee mail voting available
  • October 14 – 29: Early in-person voting available

Summary of results

No.	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Outcome
1st	J. Adam Lowe		Rep	TBD
3rd	Rusty Crowe		Rep	TBD
5th	Randy McNally		Rep	TBD
7th	Richard Briggs		Rep	TBD
9th	Steve Southerland		Rep	TBD
11th	Bo Watson		Rep	TBD
13th	Dawn White		Rep	TBD
15th	Paul Bailey		Rep	TBD
17th	Mark Pody		Rep	TBD
19th	Charlane Oliver		Dem	TBD
21st	Jeff Yarbro		Dem	TBD
23rd	Kerry Roberts		Rep	TBD
25th	Ed Jackson		Rep	TBD
27th	Jack Johnson		Rep	TBD
29th	Raumesh Akbari		Dem	TBD
31st	Brent Taylor		Rep	TBD
33rd	London Lamar		Dem	TBD

Background

2024 presidential election results by state senate district

No.	Counties	2022 state senate margin
1st	Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea	R+66.1
3rd	Carter, Johnson, Washington	R+49.9
5th	Anderson, Knox, Loudon	R+99.9
7th	Knox	R+24.7
9th	Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Sevier, Unicoi	R+65.8
11th	Hamilton	R+100
13th	Rutherford	R+29.4
15th	Cumberland, Jackson, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, White	R+100
17th	Davidson, Wilson	R+100
19th	Davidson	D+65.8
21st	Davidson	D+53.4
23rd	Cheatham, Dickson, Humphreys, Hickman, Robertson	R+100
25th	Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Henderson, Lake, Perry, Madison	R+58.8
27th	Williamson	R+100
29th	Shelby	D+100
31st	Shelby	R+32.6
33rd	Shelby	D+62.81

District 1

See also: Tennessee's 1st Senate district

District 1 covers much of rural East Tennessee bordering Hamilton County and Georgia. The district includes all of Rhea, Meigs, and McMinn Counties and part of Bradley County. Communities in the district include Dayton, Decatur, Athens, and Cleveland. ^[3]

District 3

See also: Tennessee's 3rd Senate district

District 3 is based in Johnson City, the southernmost Tri-Cities, covering all of Johnson, Washington,and Carter County. Other communities in the district include Elizabethton, Jonesborough, Erwin, Oak Grove, and Unicoi. ^[4]

District 5

See also: Tennessee's 5th Senate district

District 5 covers all of Anderson and Loudon Counties and part of Knox County in the Knoxville metropolitan area, including some of Knoxville proper as well as the surrounding communities of Clinton, Lenoir City, Loudon, Tellico Village, Oliver Springs, and northern Oak Ridge. ^[5]

District 7

See also: Tennessee's 7th Senate district

District 7 covers swath of Knox County, including parts of downtown Knoxville as well as nearby suburbs such as Farragut. ^[6]

District 9

See also: Tennessee's 9th Senate district

District 9 is located to the northeast of Knoxville, and stretches to areas outside of the Tri-Cities region. It includes parts of the Morristown Metropolitan Area. It covers Sevier, Greene, Hamblen, Cocke, and Unicoi counties. Some notable cities in the district include Morristown, Newport, Gatlinburg, and Greeneville. ^[7]

District 11

See also: Tennessee's 11th Senate district

District 11 is based in the northern suburbs of Chattanooga in Hamilton County, including some of the city proper as well as Soddy-Daisy, Middle Valley, Signal Mountain, Harrison, and part of Collegedale and Red Bank. ^[8]

District 13

See also: Tennessee's 13th Senate district

District 13 is based in Murfreesboro, including most of the city proper and part of Smyrna and western Rutherford County. ^[9]

District 15

See also: Tennessee's 15th Senate district

District 15 covers much of rural Middle Tennessee, including all of Cumberland, Jackson, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, and White Counties. Communities in the district include Cookeville, Crossville, Sparta, Fairfield Glade, Lake Tansi Village, Algood, Monterey, and Gainesboro. ^[10]

District 17

See also: Tennessee's 17th Senate district

District 17 covers rural and suburban and urban Middle Tennessee. It covers all of Wilson and the eastern part of Davidson County. Communities in the district includes Mount Juliet, Lebanon, Green Hill and part of Nashville. ^[11]

District 19

See also: Tennessee's 19th Senate district

District 19 is based in downtown Nashville, covering some or all of North Nashville, Antioch, East Nashville, Madison, and Goodlettsville. The district, located in Davidson County, is the only majority-Black Senate district in the state outside of Memphis. ^[12]

District 21

See also: Tennessee's 21st Senate district

District 21 is a convoluted district covering much of central Nashville and its inner suburbs in Davidson County, snaking its way from the Nations and Sylvan Park, down to Berry Hill and Grassmere, eastwards to the border of La Vergne. Vanderbilt University and part of the Nashville International Airport is located within the district. ^[13]

District 23

See also: Tennessee's 23rd Senate district

District 23 is based in the rural and suburban areas to the west of Nashville, covering all of Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Humphreys, Robertson Counties, and part of Montgomery County. Communities in the district include Springfield, Dickson, Ashland City, Waverly, Greenbrier, Coopertown, Centerville, Pleasant View, White Bluff, and parts of White House, Portland, and Millersville.

District 25

See also: Tennessee's 25th Senate district

District 25 spans the state's border along the Mississippi River, also stretching inland to cover the city of Jackson. The district covers all of Crockett, Dyer, Lake, Madison, Henderson, Decatur, and Perry Counties; other communities within the district include Dyersburg, Tiptonville, Newbern, and Alamo. ^[14]

District 27

See also: Tennessee's 27th Senate district

District 27 covers most of Williamson County in the southern suburbs of Nashville, including the communities of Franklin, Brentwood, Fairview, Nolensville. It also includes most of Thompson's Station and part of Spring Hill. ^[15]

District 29

See also: Tennessee's 29th Senate district

District 29 is based in Memphis, following the Mississippi River to cover parts of South and Downtown Memphis – including much of historic Beale Street – as well as Millington and other unincorporated Shelby County suburbs to the north. ^[16]

District 31

See also: Tennessee's 31st Senate district

District 31 covers parts of Memphis and its immediate suburbs to the east, including most of Germantown and most of Collierville, and some of unincorporated Shelby County. ^[17]

District 33

See also: Tennessee's 33rd Senate district

District 33 is based in South and Southwest Memphis, also covering small parts of Germantown, Collierville, and other Shelby County suburbs. ^[18]

See also

• 2026 Tennessee elections
• 2026 Tennessee House of Representatives election
• List of Tennessee General Assemblies

References

1. Leyva, Diani (October 15, 2024). "How to update your political party in Tennessee? What to know before early voting and the presidential election". The Tennessean. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
2. "2026 Elections". Knox County, Tennessee. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
3. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
4. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
5. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
6. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
7. "Senate District 9 – Sen. Steve Southerland". wapp.capitol.tn.gov. Tennessee General Assembly. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
8. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
9. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
10. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
11. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
12. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
13. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
14. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
15. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
16. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
17. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
18. "Tennessee District Maps". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved July 26, 2020.