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Live Updates: Election Night In Tennessee

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Here, we’ll keep our eye on local races and local reactions to the presidential one. You’ll find NPR’s national election blog here. 

Updated at 9:10 p.m.

House Speaker Beth Harwell and state Senator Steve Dickerson appear set to hold onto their seats in the state legislature.

Harwell holds a nearly 14-point lead over Democratic challenger Chris Moth, putting her on track for a narrower margin than her victory two years ago — but a decisive victory. A strong showing could help Harwell fend off challengers to her speakership and perhaps position her to run for governor in two years.

Dickerson, meanwhile, leads Democrat Erin Coleman by just under 10 percentage points. The first-term senator was thought to be one of the more vulnerable members of the state Senate.

Elsewhere in Tennessee, state Senator Todd Gardenhire holds the lead over Democrat Khristy Wilkerson; Republican Michael Curcio appears to have won the seat held by retiring state Rep. David Shepard, D-Dickson; and Democratic state Rep. Kevin Dunlap trails his Republican challenger, Pat Sherrell.

Among the few Democrats to have survived is state Rep. John Mark Windle of Livingston.

Overall, it looks like Republicans will retain their 28-5 majority in the state Senate and will probably add to their nearly 50-seat majority in the state House of Representatives.

—
Chas Sisk

Updated at 8:10 p.m.

No results yet from Davidson County, an hour after polls closed.

Metro Nashville said on its official Twitter account that it’s barred by state law from posting results until every vote in the county has been cast. In Tennessee, voters in line by 7 p.m. can cast a ballot after the official closing time.

— C.S.

A couple of photos of fireman cleaning out their station on Whites Creek Pike, getting ready for today’s voters:

 

Updated at 8:00 p.m.

Donald Trump’s big lead in rural parts of Tennessee seems to be helping Republicans farther down the ballot.

In Dickson, Republican Michael Curcio holds a nearly two-to-one lead over Democrat Dustin Evans. That winner will fill a seat left vacant by retiring Democratic state Rep. David Shepherd.

And over on the Cumberland Plateau, Republican challenger Paul Sherrell holds about a sizeable, 1,200-vote lead over Democratic state Rep. Kevin Dunlap.

Losing either race would make it difficult for Democrats to gain any ground in the state House of Representatives this year.

—
Chas Sisk

 

Updated at 7:20 p.m.

Donald Trump’s margin of victory might turn out to be even bigger than projected.

The Republican nominee holds a 35-point lead in Williamson County, the only county he lost in the GOP primary back in March.

Statewide, Trump holds a 50-point advantage over Hillary Clinton. But the big Democratic leaning counties, including Davidson and Shelby, are yet to report results.

The Associated Press has already called the state for Trump. 

— Chas Sisk

Updated at 7:00 p.m.

Polls have closed in Tennessee, and barring a cataclysmic surprise, Donald Trump will take the state and its 11 electoral votes.

A survey from Vanderbilt University showed Trump with

an 11-point lead
 a little over a month ago, and neither candidate has campaigned in Tennessee. The national news consortium that conducts exit polls on Election Day

didn’t even bother to send survey takers to Tennessee
, so certain has Trump’s victory here seemed.

So, the biggest questions of the evening will probably be by how much Trump wins, and what impact that victory will have on candidates farther down the ballot.

In West Nashville, House Speaker Beth Harwell and state Senator Steve Dickerson have been in competitive races. Both are Republicans, running in districts where Trump isn’t particularly popular.

Meanwhile, several rural Democrats are fighting to hold onto their seats in places where Trump support has been high.

And in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Democrats are hoping to pick off legislative seats.

A narrow victory for Trump could spell trouble for Republicans down ballot. But a strong showing might even allow them to add to their supermajority.


— Chas Sisk

Original Post:

We
learned last week that early voting shattered records in Tennessee — with the exception of the state’s biggest urban areas, Nashville and Memphis, which were flat or slightly down. 

More: 

See the county-by-county breakdown of early voting totals

There have been pockets of high voter turnout today — like in Sumner County. At Merrol Hyde Magnet School in Hendersonville, there was a line that lasted throughout the morning, says election official Edward Arnell.

That’s where WPLN’s Tony Gonzalez spoke to several voters about what was on their minds as they went to cast their ballots. Here’s a quick compilation of what they had to say:

Metro Nashville has been tweeting a link to a cool interactive map, alerting voters to locations of Nashville polling places:

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