Political party strength in Tennessee

Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party. ^{[1] [2]} Republicans currently hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, a majority of Congressional seats, and the state legislature. Democratic strength is largely concentrated in Nashville, Memphis, and parts of Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, and Jackson. Several suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.

Table

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Tennessee:

• Governor

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the U.S. Senate
• State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

Year	Executive office	State Legislature		United States Congress			Electoral College votes
	Governor	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House
1790	William Blount (DR) [a]	[ ? ]	[ ? ]			James White (DR) [b]
1791
1792
1793
1794		DR majority	[ ? ]
1795			[ ? ]
1796	John Sevier (DR)	[ ? ]	[ ? ]	William Cocke (DR)	William Blount (DR) [c]	Andrew Jackson (DR)	Thomas Jefferson/ Aaron Burr (DR)N
1797		[ ? ]
				Andrew Jackson (DR) [d]	Joseph Anderson (DR)	William C. C. Claiborne (DR)
1798		DR majority	[ ? ]
				Daniel Smith (DR)
1799		[ ? ]	DR majority	Joseph Anderson (DR)	William Cocke (DR)
1800							Thomas Jefferson/ Aaron Burr (DR)Y
1801	Archibald Roane (DR)	[ ? ]	DR majority			William Dickson (DR)
1802
1803	John Sevier (DR)	[ ? ]	[ ? ]			3DR
1804							Thomas Jefferson/ George Clinton (DR)Y
1805		DR majority	DR majority		Daniel Smith (DR)
1806
1807		DR majority	[ ? ]
1808							James Madison/ George Clinton (DR)Y
1809	Willie Blount (DR)	DR majority	F majority
					Jenkin Whiteside (DR)
1810
1811		DR majority	DR majority
					George W. Campbell (DR) [e]
1812							James Madison/ Elbridge Gerry (DR)Y
1813		DR majority	DR majority			6DR
1814					Jesse Wharton (DR)
1815	Joseph McMinn (DR)	DR majority	DR majority	George W. Campbell (DR)
					John Williams (DR)
1816							James Monroe/ Daniel D. Tompkins (DR)Y
1817		DR majority	DR majority
1818
				John Eaton (DR)
1819		DR majority	DR majority
1820
1821	William Carroll (DR)	DR majority	DR majority			5DR, 1 vac.
1822
1823		DR majority	DR majority		Andrew Jackson (DR) [d]	9DR
1824							Andrew Jackson N / John C. Calhoun Y(DR)
1825		NR majority	[ ? ]	John Eaton (J) [f]	Andrew Jackson (J)	9J
					Hugh Lawson White (J)
1826
1827	Sam Houston (DR) [d]	J majority	[ ? ]			8J, 1NR
1828							Andrew Jackson/ John C. Calhoun (D)Y
1829			NR majority
	William Hall (D)	NR majority		Felix Grundy (J) [g]
	William Carroll (D)
1830
1831		NR majority	J majority
1832							Andrew Jackson/ Martin Van Buren (D)Y
1833		J majority	J majority			12J, 1NR
1834
1835	Newton Cannon (W)	NR majority	J majority		Hugh Lawson White (NR)	9NR, 4J
1836		NR majority	NR majority				Hugh Lawson White/ John Tyler (W)N
1837				Felix Grundy (D)	Hugh Lawson White (W) [d]	10W, 3D
1838		18W, 7D	46W, 25D, 4?	vacant
				Ephraim H. Foster (W)
1839	James K. Polk (D)			Felix Grundy (D) [h]		7W, 6D
1840		14D, 11W	42D, 33W		Alexander O. Anderson (D)		William Henry Harrison/ John Tyler (W)Y
1841	James C. Jones (W)			Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D)	vacant	8W, 5D
1842		13D, 12W	39W, 36D
1843				Ephraim H. Foster (W)	Spencer Jarnagin (W)	6D, 5W
1844		14W, 11D	40W, 35D				Henry Clay/ Theodore Frelinghuysen (W)N
1845	Aaron V. Brown (D)			Hopkins L. Turney (D)
1846		13D, 12W	39D, 36W
1847	Neill S. Brown (W)				John Bell (W)
1848		13W, 12D	41W, 34D				Zachary Taylor/ Millard Fillmore (W)Y
1849	William Trousdale (D)					7D, 4W
1850		14D, 11W	39D, 36W
1851	William B. Campbell (W)			James C. Jones (W)
1852		16W, 9D	39W, 36D				Winfield Scott/ William Alexander Graham (W)N
1853	Andrew Johnson (D)					5D, 5W
1854		13D, 12KN	44W, 31D			6W, 4D
1855						5D, 5KN
1856		14KN, 11D	38KN, 37D				James Buchanan/ John C. Breckinridge (D)Y
1857	Isham G. Harris (D)			Andrew Johnson (D)	John Bell (KN)	7D, 3KN
1858		18D, 7KN	42D, 33KN
1859					Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D)	7O, 3D
1860		14D, 11O	41D, 34O				John Bell/ Edward Everett (CU)N
1861						3U, 7 vac.
1862		American Civil War
	Andrew Johnson (U/Military)					American Civil War
1863
1864							Abraham Lincoln/ Andrew Johnson (NU)Y
1865	Edward H. East (R) [i]
	Parson Brownlow (R)
1866		25R	79R, 4D	David T. Patterson (U)	Joseph S. Fowler (U)	8U
1867				David T. Patterson (D)	Joseph S. Fowler (R)	8R
1868			83R				Ulysses S. Grant/ Schuyler Colfax (R)Y
1869	Dewitt Clinton Senter (R)			Parson Brownlow (R)
1870		20D, 5R	66D, 17R
1871	John C. Brown (D)	22D, 3R	63D, 12R		Henry Cooper (D)	6D, 2R
1872							Thomas A. Hendricks/ B. Gratz Brown (D)N
1873		18D, 7R	49D, 26R			7R, 3D
1874
1875	James D. Porter (D)	23D, 2R	70D, 5R	Andrew Johnson (D) [h]		9D, 1R
				David M. Key (D)
1876							Samuel J. Tilden/ Thomas A. Hendricks (D)N
1877		20D, 5R	59D, 16R	James E. Bailey (D)	Isham G. Harris (D) [h]	8D, 2R
1878
1879	Albert S. Marks (D)	22D, 3R	61D, 14R			9D, 1R
1880							Winfield Scott Hancock and William Hayden English (D)N
1881	Alvin Hawkins (R)	15D, 10R	37R, 37D, 1GB [j]	Howell E. Jackson (D) [k]		7D, 3R
1882
1883	William B. Bate (D)	27D, 6R	71D, 28R			8D, 2R
1884							Grover Cleveland/ Thomas A. Hendricks (D)Y
1885		22D, 11R	81D, 18R			7D, 3R
1886
				Washington C. Whitthorne (D)
1887	Robert Love Taylor (D)	21D, 12R	63D, 36R	William B. Bate (D) [h]		8D, 2R
1888							Grover Cleveland/ Allen G. Thurman (D)N
1889		23D, 10R	69D, 30R			7D, 3R
1890
1891	John P. Buchanan (FA)	25D, 8R	79D, 20R			8D, 2R
1892							Grover Cleveland/ Adlai Stevenson I (D)Y
1893	Peter Turney (D)	25D, 6R, 1Pop, 1I	68D, 26R, 5Pop
1894
1895		21D, 10R, 1Pop, 1U	60D, 32R, 7Pop			6D, 4R
1896							William Jennings Bryan/ Arthur Sewall (D)N
1897	Robert Love Taylor (D)	24D, 9R	63D, 32R, 4Pop			8D, 2R
					Thomas B. Turley (D)
1898
1899	Benton McMillin (D)	25D, 8R	77D, 22R
1900							William Jennings Bryan/ Adlai Stevenson I (D)N
1901		27D, 5R, 1ID	76D, 23R		Edward W. Carmack (D)
1902
1903	James B. Frazier (D) [l]	28D, 5R	83D, 16R
1904							Alton B. Parker/ Henry G. Davis (D)N
1905			80D, 19R
	John I. Cox (D)			James B. Frazier (D)
1906
1907	Malcolm R. Patterson (D)	27D, 6R	78D, 21R		Robert Love Taylor (D) [h]
1908							William Jennings Bryan/ John W. Kern (D)N
1909		28D, 5R	77D, 22R
1910
1911	Ben W. Hooper (R)	21D, 7R, 4RD, 1I	74D, 25R	Luke Lea (D)
1912					Newell Sanders (R)		Woodrow Wilson/ Thomas R. Marshall (D)Y
1913		16D, 6R, 6RD, 5ID	52D, 27R, 20I		William R. Webb (D)
					John K. Shields (D)
1914
1915	Thomas Clark Rye (D)	26D, 7R	72D, 27R
1916
1917		27D, 6R		Kenneth McKellar (D)
1918
1919	Albert H. Roberts (D)	26D, 7R
1920							Warren G. Harding/ Calvin Coolidge (R)Y
1921	Alfred A. Taylor (R)	24D, 9R	66D, 32R, 1I			5D, 5R
1922
1923	Austin Peay (D) [h]	28D, 5R	76D, 23R			8D, 2R
1924							John W. Davis/ Charles W. Bryan (D)N
1925		29D, 4R			Lawrence Tyson (D) [h]
1926
1927	Henry Hollis Horton (D) [m]	28D, 5R	80D, 19R
1928							Herbert Hoover/ Charles Curtis (R)Y
1929		25D, 8R	72D, 27R
					William E. Brock (D)
1930
1931		28D, 5R	83D, 16R		Cordell Hull (D) [n]
1932							Franklin D. Roosevelt/ John Nance Garner (D)Y
1933	Hill McAlister (D)	29D, 4R	81D, 18R		Nathan L. Bachman (D) [h]	7D, 2R
1934
1935		28D, 5R
1936
1937	Gordon Browning (D)	29D, 4R
					George L. Berry (D)
1938
1939	Prentice Cooper (D)		83D, 16R		Tom Stewart (D)
1940							Franklin D. Roosevelt/ Henry A. Wallace (D)Y
1941
1942
1943		30D, 3R	78D, 20R, 1I			8D, 2R
1944							Franklin D. Roosevelt/ Harry S. Truman (D)Y
1945	Jim Nance McCord (D)	28D, 5R	75D, 24R
1946
1947		29D, 4R	82D, 17R
1948							Harry S. Truman/ Alben W. Barkley (D)Y
1949	Gordon Browning (D)		80D, 19R		Estes Kefauver (D) [h]
1950
1951
1952							Dwight D. Eisenhower/ Richard Nixon (R)Y
1953	Frank G. Clement (D)	28D, 5R	81D, 18R	Albert Gore Sr. (D)		7D, 2R
1954
1955			80D, 19R
1956
1957		27D, 6R	78D, 21R
1958
1959	Buford Ellington (D)	28D, 5R	82D, 17R
1960							Richard Nixon/ Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R)N
1961		27D, 6R	81D, 18R
1962
1963	Frank G. Clement (D)		78D, 21R		Herbert S. Walters (D)	6D, 3R
1964							Lyndon B. Johnson/ Hubert Humphrey (D)Y
1965		25D, 8R	74D, 25R		Ross Bass (D)
1966
1967	Buford Ellington (D)		58D, 41R		Howard Baker (R)	5D, 4R
1968							Richard Nixon/ Spiro Agnew (R)Y
1969		20D, 13R	49R, 49D, 1I [o]
1970		21D, 12R
1971	Winfield Dunn (R)	19D, 13R, 1A	56D, 43R	Bill Brock (R)
1972
1973			51D, 48R			5R, 3D
1974
1975	Ray Blanton (D)	20D, 12R, 1I	63D, 35R, 1I			5D, 3R
1976							Jimmy Carter/ Walter Mondale (D)Y
1977		23D, 9R, 1I	66D, 32R, 1I	Jim Sasser (D)
1978
1979	Lamar Alexander (R)	20D, 12R, 1I	60D, 38R, 1I
1980							Ronald Reagan/ George H. W. Bush (R)Y
1981			58D, 39R, 2I
1982		21D, 11R, 1I
1983			60D, 38R, 1I			6D, 3R
1984		22D, 11R
1985		23D, 10R	62D, 37R		Al Gore (D) [p]
1986
1987	Ned McWherter (D)		61D, 38R
1988							George H. W. Bush/ Dan Quayle (R)Y
1989		22D, 11R	59D, 40R
1990
1991		20D, 13R	55D, 44R
1992							Bill Clinton/ Al Gore (D)Y
1993		19D, 14R	64D, 35R		Harlan Mathews (D) [q]
1994
					Fred Thompson (R) [r]
1995	Don Sundquist (R)	18D, 15R	59D, 40R	Bill Frist (R)		5R, 4D
1996		17R, 16D [s]
1997		18D, 15R	61D, 38R
1998
1999			59D, 40R
2000							George W. Bush/ Dick Cheney (R)Y
2001		18D, 15R	58D, 41R
2002
2003	Phil Bredesen (D)		54D, 45R		Lamar Alexander (R)	5D, 4R
2004
2005		17R, 16D [t]	53D, 46R
2006
2007		17R, 16D		Bob Corker (R)
		16R, 16D, 1I [u]
		16R, 15D, 1I
		16R, 16D, 1I
2008							John McCain/ Sarah Palin (R)N
2009		19R, 14D	50R, 49D
			49R, 49D, 1CCR [v]
2010			50R, 48D, 1I
2011	Bill Haslam (R)	20R, 13D	64R, 34D, 1I			7R, 2D
2012							Mitt Romney/ Paul Ryan (R)N
2013		26R, 7D	71R, 27D, 1I
2014
2015		28R, 5D	73R, 26D
2016							Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R)Y
2017			74R, 25D
2018
2019	Bill Lee (R)		73R, 26D	Marsha Blackburn (R)
2020							Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R)N
2021		27R, 6D			Bill Hagerty (R)
2022
2023			75R, 24D			8R, 1D
2024							Donald Trump/ JD Vance (R)Y
Year	Governor	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral College votes
	Executive office	State Legislature		United States Congress

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials

Alaskan Independence (AKIP) Know Nothing (KN) American Labor (AL) Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J) National Republican (NR) Anti-Administration (AA) Anti-Masonic (Anti-M) Conservative (Con) Covenant (Cov)

Democratic (D) Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Democratic–NPL (D-NPL) Dixiecrat (Dix), States' Rights (SR) Democratic-Republican (DR) Farmer–Labor (FL) Federalist (F) Pro-Administration (PA)

Free Soil (FS) Fusion (Fus) Greenback (GB) Independence (IPM) Independent Democrat (ID) Independent Republican (IR) Jacksonian (J) Liberal (Lib)

Libertarian (L) National Union (NU) Nonpartisan League (NPL) Nullifier (N) Opposition Northern (O) Opposition Southern (O) Populist (Pop) Progressive (Prog)

Prohibition (Proh) Readjuster (Rea) Republican (R) Silver (Sv) Silver Republican (SvR) Socialist (Soc) Union (U) Unconditional Union (UU)

Vermont Progressive (VP) Whig (W) Independent (I) Nonpartisan (NP)

1. Governor of Southwest Territory.
2. Delegate from Southwest Territory.
3. Expelled from the United States Senate for conspiring with the British to seize West Florida from Spain.
4. Resigned.
5. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of the Treasury.
6. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of War.
7. Resigned to take office as United States Attorney General.
8. Died in office.
9. Served as secretary of state of Tennessee from 1862 until 1865, having been appointed by Andrew Johnson, the military governor of the state under Union occupation during the American Civil War. After Johnson was inaugurated as vice president of the United States on March 4, 1865, East became "Acting Governor of Tennessee" until Parson Brownlow, the elected governor of Tennessee, was inaugurated on April 5, 1865. The official Tennessee Blue Book does not include East in its list of former Governors.
10. The Greenback member supported the Republicans in the vote for Speaker, giving them control of the chamber.
11. Resigned to take seat on the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit.
12. Resigned to take seat in the United States Senate.
13. Assumed office upon the death of his predecessor.
14. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of State.
15. The Independent and one Democrat supported Republican Bill Jenkins in the vote for Speaker, giving the Republicans control for the only time in the 20th Century. ^[3]
16. Resigned to take office as Vice President of the United States.
17. Appointed to fill a vacancy.
18. First elected in special election.
19. Two Democratic Senators switched parties to Republican, giving the Republicans control.
20. Re-elected John Shelton Wilder, a Democrat, to the Senate Speaker position as a minority-party Speaker.
21. Senator Micheal R. Williams left the Republican party to become an Independent. ^[4]
22. On February 10, 2009, the executive committee of the Tennessee Republican Party voted to strip Speaker of the House Kent Williams of his party affiliation after he colluded with Democrats to be elected speaker. Williams chose "Carter County Republican" as his new party designation.

Political History of Tennessee

Pre-Civil War

In 1789, the new United States designated this area as the "Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio." ^[5] Even though Tennessee was not yet a state, some government was organized to administer the territory. William Blount was appointed as the first official governor of Tennessee, James White became the state's first representative in Congress, and Tennessee's political party history under European Americans was started. The majority party in Tennessee began as the Democratic-Republican party and operated until 1828. That year it was dissolved and the Democratic Party was formed. ^[6]

From 1828, control of Tennessee state government alternated initially between the Democratic Party and the on. Whig Party in opposition. It later became the Republican Party, shortly before the American Civil War began in 1861. While these two parties fought for the majority during these years, the Know-Nothing Party, Unionist Party, and Constitutional Party were also active in the state. Their representatives were elected to state government, but did not dominate it. The politics of Middle and Western Tennessee were dominated by planters and slaveholders, especially the major planters in the western Delta area of Memphis and environs near the Mississippi River. Overseeing a large population of enslaved African Americans, planters voted to secede at the time of the Civil War in order to protect slavery, which was profitable for them and the commodity crop of cotton. Eastern Tennessee, by contrast, had a population with higher representation of white yeomen and subsistence farmers and artisans. They supported the Union during the Civil War and resisted secession.

Civil War to WWII

From the Civil War until World War II, Tennessee was controlled by the Democratic Party, made up of conservative whites in the state, especially of the planter and former slaveholding class. Together with other white Democratic Southerners in Congress, they formed a voting block known as the Solid South. Based on the seniority rules of the time and their virtually unrestricted control of seats from Southern states by having disenfranchised most African American at the turn of the century, senior Congressmen and Senators from the South controlled chairmanships of important committees, strongly influencing national policy. During the Great Depression, they limited benefits for African Americans in the South.

World War II to present day

During the period from 1939 until about 1970, the conservative whites of the Democratic party in Tennessee largely controlled the state politically. A minority of Republican voters were dominant in the eastern part of the state, which had favored the Union during the Civil War. But the state had been more competitive between its two parties than others in the South, as more blacks had retained their ability to vote and supported the Republican Party into the early 20th century. ^{[7] [ page needed ]}

In 1976, Tennessee voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia, a "favorite son" of the South. Similarly, in 1992 and 1996, Tennessee voted for the Democratic ticket of Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Al Gore, a US senator from Tennessee, both sons of the South. But in 2000, Tennessee voted for Republican George W. Bush over Al Gore by single digit margins. Since 2000, Tennessee has become a Republican stronghold, voting increasingly Republican in all following elections.

See also

• Elections in Tennessee
• Politics in Tennessee
• United States presidential elections in Tennessee
• List of United States senators from Tennessee
• List of United States representatives from Tennessee
• Tennessee Senate
• Tennessee House of Representatives

References

1. Doble, Rob (December 24, 2020). "Analysis: The polarization express". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
2. Clouse, Allie (November 6, 2020). "As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
3. Booker shook things up in 69 Knoxville News-Sentinel
4. Whitehouse, Ken (14 March 2007). "GOP State Senator bolts party". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
5. "From Territory to State | Tennessee Secretary of State". sos.tn.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
6. "Democratic Party". History.com. 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
7. Dickey, John (December 2016). "The Decline of Agriculture and the Rise of Republican Party Strength in the South". University of Tennessee, Knoxville: 130.