A Primer on Tennessee Elections

Early voting for the state primary elections began July 18 and continues through August 2nd.

State House

All 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives are up for election. A number of seats are open, with no incumbent.

• In Knoxville, two Republicans are vying to replace Parky Strader, who left office to fight a battle with cancer.

• In the 40th district, around Carthage and Smithville, seven Democrats and two Republicans are running to replace Frank Buck, who retired after a long and eventful career in the House.

• In the 48th district, which includes Murfreesboro and Lascassas, two Democrats and three Republicans are looking to fill the shoes of Democrat John Hood. Hood was one of the last Democrats to represent the Murfreesboro area.

• In the 52nd district, here in Nashville, Mike Stewart appears to have the better organization in his bid to replace Democratic Representative Rob Briley. Stewart’s primary opponent is Eric Stansell. There is no Republican in the race, so whoever wins the primary will be Nashville’s new representative.

• Out toward Savannah, two Democrats and two Republicans are running to replace longtime House Democrat Randy Rinks. Rinks is rumored to be positioning himself for a run at Secretary of State.

• The 77th district near Union City has four Democrats and two Republicans looking at the seat given up by Philip Pinion.

• The 94th district, near Somerville, was held by Dolores Gresham. She is running for the state Senate. The 94th is just across the line from Shelby County and Memphis. Three Democrats and three Republicans are sprinting for the finish line.

Other races demonstrate that, in the House, seats typically change hands during the primary rather than the general election.

• In District 4, around Johnson City, Republican Kent Williams is under fire from fellow House Republicans for taking $250 in tainted money from a Democratic House member. Why did four Republican representatives involve themselves in somebody else’s primary? Because Kent Williams’ opponent is Jerome Cochran, the person who formerly held the seat and who is arguably more conservative than Williams.

• In Knoxville’s District 18, Stacey Campfield is stalked by two other Republicans. Campfield has become known as a gadfly who would rather fight losing causes than pass legislation.

 

State Senate

The even-numbered district seats of the Tennessee Senate are also up for election, three of which are open.

The elections for this chamber are best described as a “madhouse.” Up around Kingsport, Republicans are trying to recapture the seat they lost when Mike Williams became an Independent. If Williams wins as on the Independent ticket, it will be the first time in at least half a century that a person was elected who wasn’t listed as either a Republican or a Democrat.

Over in Blountville, Bill Clabough was ambushed four years ago in his own Republican primary by right-to-lifer Dr. Raymond Finney. This year a more moderate Republican, Doug Overbey, is running against Dr. Finney. Overbey is a long-time House member.

The twelfth district in the Upper Cumberland was represented by Democrat Tommy Kilby, who stepped down this year. The primary won’t mean much except for turnout figures, there’s one Republican, Ken Yager, running against one Democrat, Becky Ruppe.

Down around Tullahoma and McMinnville, former senator Jerry Cooper’s seat is open. Cooper resigned under fire and in legal difficulty. Steve Roller, a Democrat, was appointed to the seat and filled in for a few months before the legislature adjourned for the year. Two Democrats are running against him in the primary. Three Republicans are also running in that party’s primary.

Over in West Tennessee, the 26th Senatorial district has been represented by John Wilder for four decades. Wilder stepped down this year and while Democrat Randy Camp has no opposition in his party’s primary, three strong Republicans are battling it out for the seat:

Dr. Tim Linder, whose practice is in the most populous county of the district; local politician Bob Shutt, who has run for the seat before; state Representative Dolores Gresham, who received the endorsement from the Right to Life organization.

And finally, special interests:

Right to Life published its endorsements several weeks ago, in time for decisions to be made in the primaries. They endorsed 10 state senate candidates and 50 House candidates. Despite “bipartisan” language in the covering news release, all 60 endorsees were Republican.

Political mapmakers have drawn the legislative districts to be basically Democrat or Republican, so the primaries will actually pretty well set the new legislature in place, except in a very few tossup districts.

For instance, south of Nashville are a lot of districts that historically have voted Republican but in the last 20 years have become increasingly Republican as wealthy city-dwellers moved out of the city.

Federal Elections

On the national ballot, Nashville’s Bob Tuke and Knoxville’s Mike Padgett are among six Democrats who want to oppose Lamar Alexander for his U.S. Senate seat. Around Nashville, you’re seeing signs for Kenneth Eaton, but he’s a very long shot statewide or even within Davidson County. Alexander is home-free within his own party.

For the U.S. House 7th district, which runs from the suburbs of Memphis to the outskirts of Nashville, Brentwood Republican Marsha Blackburn has opposition from Memphis Register of Deeds Tom Leatherwood. They served in the state Senate together. Blackburn’s outpaced him in fundraising by a 4-1 margin.

Candidates for the state House of Representatives

Candidates for the State Senate

Candidates for the U.S. Senate primaries

Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives

Also on the August 7th ballot are these candidates for a yes/no, judicial retention vote. The list includes two Supreme Court justices.

The primary election is Thursday, August 7th. If you have local county elections where you are, that’s the day you’ll elect county commissioners and a county executive, too, in a county general election.

The state primaries pick the Republican and the Democratic candidates who will be on the ballot for the state general election November 4th, the same day we elect a president.