Election 2024 Live Updates

During his first term in office, Donald Trump had a complicated track record when it came to Kurdistan. Following his reelection, a politically engaged member of Nashville’s Kurdish community weighs in.

While Nashville’s mayor is starting to move on his transit plan immediately, some changes will take more than a decade to implement.

Tennessee voters turned out at almost the same numbers they did in 2020, when the state set a record. The Secretary of State’s office says 3,060,293 Tennesseans cast a ballot, which is 99.5% of the 2020 turnout.

That means polling places were packed on election day. For 18-year-old Arian Mireles, who voted for the first time, the experience was a bit intimidating, but also exciting.

“Honestly the first feeling is when you walk inside it’s just like, ‘Oh my god, there are so many people around there you don’t know where to begin with,’ ” he said. “But honestly after I voted I’m like, ‘You know what? I am really hoping I can make a change in America.’ ”

Compared with four years ago, early voter turnout was down 2.89%. But voters who showed up on election day nearly made up for that gap. Turnout on election day almost matched the last pre-pandemic election in 2016. 

In Davidson County, turnout fell shy of 300,000 and was about 13% lower than 2020.

How are things feeling post-Election Day?  

As we come up for air after a busy Election Day, we take a look back at one of the more chaotic elections in U.S. history. Plus, the local news for Nov. 6, 2024 and this week’s edition of What, Where, Whens-day. 

Credits:
This is a production of Nashville Public Radio
Host/producer: Nina Cardona
Editor: Miriam Kramer
Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

Republican incumbent Jeff Burkhart has been reelected to the Tennessee House, defeating political newcomer Allie Phillips.  

More: ‘I have to be the change that I need to see.’ Meet three first-time candidates running for the Tennessee House in 2024

Phillips decided to run for office after she had to travel out of state for a medically necessary abortion, highlighting the dangers of Tennessee’s strict abortion ban.

Burkhart was elected to his seat in 2022 after serving as a Clarksville city councilmember for 12 years. He has said that, as a contractor, he believes in running the government like a business. 

Democratic incumbent Rep. Bo Mitchell has fended off a challenge from Republican Metro Councilmember Jennifer Frensley Webb, his first since 2018. 

Mitchell was first elected to the seat in 2012, by a margin of just 156 votes over Republican Charles Williamson. Mitchell won several hard-fought victories over the next few elections, eventually converting District 50 into a securely Democratic seat. So secure, in fact, that he ran unopposed in the 2020 and 2022 general elections.

During his time in office, Mitchell has supported increased penalties for domestic violence and child neglect, tuition assistance for military children and reducing sales tax on food. He is also in favor of increasing public school funding, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, abortion access and the passage of red flag measures, which prevent people deemed dangerous to themselves or others from possessing a gun. 

Webb ran on a platform of incentives for small businesses, harsher penalties for crime, cracking down on illegal immigration and defending the Second Amendment. She also supported Tennessee’s abortion ban, which Mitchell has called “dangerous” for women in Tennessee. 

First-time candidate Shaundelle Brooks has defeated Republican Chad Bobo, keeping Tennessee House District 60 blue. She will replace Democratic Rep. Darren Jernigan, who was elected to the seat in 2012 and who recently became an advisor in the Nashville mayor’s office.  More: ‘We need each other.’ As Darren Jernigan leaves the state for the city, […]

Nashville and Middle Tennessee residents squeezed into Henrietta Red in Germantown Tuesday night to celebrate the campaign of Democratic candidate Maryam Abolfazli, who ran for the 5th Congressional seat.

Despite her loss, which was announced by the Associated Press before 9 p.m., the atmosphere was quite cheerful at the gathering.

Abolfazli later explained that she was not surprised by the crowd’s positivity.

“I think if the top is bitter and divisive and mean, that’s what you get all the way down. And I think if the top is hopeful and inspirational and powerful and loving, that’s what you get,” she said.

She encouraged her opponent to consider that people are “tired of anger.”

“Andy Ogles is going to continue as congressperson and I’m asking him to stop it,” she said. “No more division. No more anger. No more bitter, bitter anger.”

House Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Sparks has defeated immigrant rights activist Luis Mata to be reelected to his seat, which he has held since 2010.   Sparks supports charter schools and the school voucher program, in addition to investing in public schools. He has said that Rutherford County’s overburdened school system has been caused by illegal […]

Republican Mark Green is headed to Congress for another term, after initially announcing his retirement earlier this year.