Elections inTennessee are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats.Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Statewidelegislative referrals andreferendums may also be on the ballot in some elections. Tennessee is one of thirteen states that holds itspresidential primaries onSuper Tuesday.[1]
Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states that require voters to present a form ofphoto identification.[2] In a 2020 study, Tennessee was ranked as the 5th hardest state for citizens to vote in.[3]
Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the DemocraticSolid South, but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state.[4] During this time, East Tennessee was heavily Republican and the western two thirds mostly voted Democratic, with the latter dominating the state.[5] This division was related to the state's pattern of Unionist and Confederate loyalism during the Civil War.[5]
Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by theRepublican Party.[6][7] Republicans currently hold both of the state'sU.S. Senate seats, a majority ofcongressional seats, and thestate legislature.Democratic strength is largely concentrated inNashville,Memphis, and parts ofKnoxville,Chattanooga, andClarksville. Somesuburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.
List of presidential elections in Tennessee from 1824–present.
| Year | Republican / Whig | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1824 | 216 | 1.04% | 20,197 | 97.45% | 312 | 1.51% |
| 1828 | 2,240 | 4.81% | 44,293 | 95.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1832 | 1,347 | 4.58% | 28,078 | 95.42% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1836 | 36,027 | 57.92% | 26,170 | 42.08% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1840 | 60,194 | 55.66% | 47,951 | 44.34% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1844 | 60,040 | 50.05% | 59,917 | 49.95% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1848 | 64,321 | 52.52% | 58,142 | 47.48% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1852 | 58,586 | 50.73% | 56,900 | 49.27% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1856 | 0 | 0.00% | 69,704 | 52.18% | 63,878 | 47.82% |
| 1860 | 0 | 0.00% | 11,281 | 7.72% | 134,825 | 92.28% |
| 1864 | 30,000 | 85.71% | 5,000 | 14.29% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1868 | 56,628 | 68.43% | 26,129 | 31.57% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1872 | 85,655 | 47.84% | 93,391 | 52.16% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1876 | 89,566 | 40.21% | 133,177 | 59.79% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1880 | 107,677 | 44.26% | 129,569 | 53.26% | 6,017 | 2.47% |
| 1884 | 124,101 | 47.74% | 133,770 | 51.45% | 2,107 | 0.81% |
| 1888 | 138,978 | 45.76% | 158,699 | 52.26% | 6,017 | 1.98% |
| 1892 | 100,537 | 37.83% | 136,468 | 51.36% | 28,727 | 10.81% |
| 1896 | 148,683 | 46.33% | 167,168 | 52.09% | 5,052 | 1.57% |
| 1900 | 123,108 | 44.95% | 145,240 | 53.03% | 5,512 | 2.01% |
| 1904 | 105,363 | 43.40% | 131,653 | 54.23% | 5,734 | 2.36% |
| 1908 | 117,977 | 45.87% | 135,608 | 52.73% | 3,595 | 1.40% |
| 1912 | 60,475 | 24.00% | 133,021 | 52.80% | 58,437 | 23.20% |
| 1916 | 116,223 | 42.70% | 153,280 | 56.31% | 2,687 | 0.99% |
| 1920 | 219,829 | 51.29% | 206,558 | 48.19% | 2,239 | 0.52% |
| 1924 | 130,728 | 43.54% | 158,682 | 52.86% | 10,810 | 3.60% |
| 1928 | 195,388 | 53.76% | 167,343 | 46.04% | 742 | 0.20% |
| 1932 | 126,752 | 32.48% | 259,473 | 66.49% | 4,031 | 1.03% |
| 1936 | 146,520 | 30.81% | 327,083 | 68.78% | 1,935 | 0.41% |
| 1940 | 169,153 | 32.35% | 351,601 | 67.25% | 2,069 | 0.40% |
| 1944 | 200,311 | 39.22% | 308,707 | 60.45% | 1,674 | 0.33% |
| 1948 | 202,914 | 36.87% | 270,402 | 49.14% | 76,967 | 13.99% |
| 1952 | 446,147 | 49.99% | 443,710 | 49.71% | 2,696 | 0.30% |
| 1956 | 462,288 | 49.21% | 456,507 | 48.60% | 20,609 | 2.19% |
| 1960 | 556,577 | 52.92% | 481,453 | 45.77% | 13,762 | 1.31% |
| 1964 | 508,965 | 44.49% | 634,947 | 55.50% | 34 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 472,592 | 37.85% | 351,233 | 28.13% | 424,792 | 34.02% |
| 1972 | 813,147 | 67.70% | 357,293 | 29.75% | 30,742 | 2.56% |
| 1976 | 633,969 | 42.94% | 825,879 | 55.94% | 16,498 | 1.12% |
| 1980 | 787,761 | 48.70% | 783,051 | 48.41% | 46,804 | 2.89% |
| 1984 | 990,212 | 57.84% | 711,714 | 41.57% | 10,067 | 0.59% |
| 1988 | 947,233 | 57.89% | 679,794 | 41.55% | 9,223 | 0.56% |
| 1992 | 841,300 | 42.43% | 933,521 | 47.08% | 207,817 | 10.48% |
| 1996 | 863,530 | 45.59% | 909,146 | 48.00% | 121,429 | 6.41% |
| 2000 | 1,061,949 | 51.15% | 981,720 | 47.28% | 32,512 | 1.57% |
| 2004 | 1,383,336 | 56.81% | 1,035,160 | 42.51% | 16,453 | 0.68% |
| 2008 | 1,479,178 | 56.85% | 1,087,437 | 41.79% | 35,367 | 1.36% |
| 2012 | 1,462,330 | 59.42% | 960,709 | 39.04% | 37,865 | 1.54% |
| 2016 | 1,522,925 | 60.72% | 870,695 | 34.72% | 114,407 | 4.56% |
| 2020 | 1,852,475 | 60.66% | 1,143,711 | 37.45% | 57,665 | 1.89% |
| 2024 | 1,966,865 | 64.19% | 1,056,265 | 34.47% | 40,812 | 1.33% |
List of national legislative elections in Tennessee from 2000–present.
List of gubernatorial elections in Tennessee from 2002–present.
Nashville mayoral elections
Nashvillemeasures
Countywide elections
Chattanooga elections
Countywide elections
Knoxville elections
State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020
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