Tennessee State Senate District 17

Incumbent

Mark Pody

Assumed office: January 9, 2018

Tennessee State Senate District 17 is represented byMark Pody (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Tennessee state senators represented an average of209,603 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented193,195 residents.

About the chamber

Members of theTennessee State Senate servefour-year terms and are not subject toterm limits. Tennessee legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.^[1]

Qualifications

See also:State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in theTennessee State Senate, a candidate must:^[2]

• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be at least 30 years old before the general election
• Have resided in Tennessee for at least 3 years before the general election
• Have resided in the county or district to be represented for at least 1 year, immediately preceding the election
• Be a qualified voter in the county or district to be represented

The following groups of people are ineligible to run for office:^[2]

• Those who have been convicted of offering or giving a bribe, or of larceny, or any other offense declared infamous by law, unless restored to citizenship in the mode pointed out by law;
• Those against whom there is a judgment unpaid for any moneys received by them, in any official capacity, due to the United States, to this state, or any county thereof;
• Those who are defaulters to the treasury at the time of the election (the election of any such person shall be void);
• Soldiers, seamen, marines, or airmen in the regular army or navy or air force of the United States; and
• Members of congress, and persons holding any office of profit or trust under any foreign power, other state of the union, or under the United States.

Salaries

See also:Comparison of state legislative salaries

Vacancies

See also:How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in theTennessee General Assembly, there are two ways a vacancy can be filled. When twelve months or more remain before the next general election, a special election must be held within the allowable time frame set by law. If fewer than twelve months remain before the next general election, members of the legislative body in the county where the vacancy occurred must vote on a replacement.^[4]

See sources:Tennessee Const. Art. 2, Sec. 15

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also:Redistricting in Tennessee after the 2020 census

On December 10, 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's state legislative maps.^[5] On November 22, 2023, the Davidson County Chancery Court had struck down the state Senate map, declaring it unconstitutional. The court ordered the state to create a new state Senate map by January 31, 2024.^[6] On April 13, 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the Davidson County Chancery Court on April 6, blocking the same state Senate map. Gov. Lee signed the state's legislative districts into law on February 6, 2022.^[7]

On January 18, 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended state legislative proposals for consideration by the full Senate in a 7-2 vote along party lines, with all Republicans supporting the proposals and all Democrats opposing them.^[8] The Senate approved proposals for congressional and Senate maps in a 26-5 party-line vote on January 20, 2022.^[9] On January 26, 2022, the Tennessee Senate approved the state House plan.^[10] These maps took effect for Tennessee's 2022 legislative elections.

On December 14, 2021, the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Redistricting released five state Senate plans and four congressional plans submitted by the public.^[11] The Tennessee House Select Committee on Redistricting voted to approve a proposal for House districts, HB 1035, on December 17, 2021.^[12] The ad-hoc Senate committee released a state Senate plan on January 13.^[13]

How does redistricting in Tennessee work? In Tennessee, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by thestate legislature. These lines are subject to veto by thegovernor.^[14]

TheTennessee Constitution requires that state Senate districts "preserve counties whole where possible." State statutes mandate that no more than 30 counties may be split across districts. Furthermore, state law requires that state legislative districts be contiguous. There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.^[14]

Elections

2026

See also: Tennessee State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Republican primary

Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17

IncumbentMark Pody (R) andButch Baker (R) are running in the Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on August 6, 2026.

		Candidate
		Mark Pody
	Submit photo	Butch Baker

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
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2022

See also:Tennessee State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Tennessee State Senate District 17

IncumbentMark Pody won election in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Pody (R)	100.0	39,381

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,381
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17

IncumbentMark Pody advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on August 4, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Pody	100.0	13,161

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,161
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also:Tennessee State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Tennessee State Senate District 17

IncumbentMark Pody defeatedMary Alice Carfi in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Pody (R)	70.4	53,364
		Mary Alice Carfi (D)	29.6	22,452

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 75,816
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17

Mary Alice Carfi advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on August 2, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mary Alice Carfi	100.0	10,460

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	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,460
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17

IncumbentMark Pody advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 17 on August 2, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Pody	100.0	31,437

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,437
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2017

TN Senate District 17

See also:Tennessee state legislative special elections, 2017

Aspecial election for the position ofTennessee State Senate District 17 was held on December 19, 2017. A primary election took place on November 7, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 28, 2017.^[15]

The seat was vacant followingMae Beavers' (R) resignation. Beavers resigned from the state Senate effective September 1, 2017, in order to run for governor full-time.^[16]

Mary Alice Carfi ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, whileMark Pody was unopposed in the Republican primary.^[17] Pody defeated Carfi in the special election with 51 percent of the vote.^[18]

Tennessee State Senate, District 17, Special Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mark Pody	51.3%	5,995
	Democratic	Mary Alice Carfi	48.7%	5,688
Total Votes				11,683
Source:Tennessee Secretary of State

2014

See also:Tennessee State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for 18 seats in theTennessee State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 7, 2014. A general election took place onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 3, 2014. IncumbentMae Beavers defeatedClark Boyd in the Republican primary. Beavers was unopposed in the general election.^[19]

Tennessee State Senate, District 17 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mae BeaversIncumbent	59.3%	16,177
Clark Boyd	40.7%	11,104
Total Votes		27,281

2010

See also:Tennessee State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office ofTennessee State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 5, 2010, and a general election onNovember 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 1, 2010. IncumbentMae Beavers (R) defeatedGeorge McDonald (D) in the general election. McDonald defeatedSam Hatcher andAubrey Givens in the Democratic primary, while Beavers defeatedSusan Lynn andGordon Borck in the Republican primary.^[20]

Tennessee State Senate, District 17, General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mae BeaversIncumbent	62.6%	35,927
	Democratic	George McDonald	37.4%	21,442
Total Votes				57,369

Tennessee State Senate, District 17 Democratic Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
George McDonald	41.8%	6,282
Sam Hatcher	39.1%	5,879
Aubrey Givens	19%	2,861
Total Votes		15,022

Tennessee State Senate, District 17 Republican Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mae BeaversIncumbent	48.3%	13,499
Susan Lynn	42.5%	11,860
Gordon Borck	9.2%	2,569
Total Votes		27,928

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2022, candidates for Tennessee State Senate District 17 raised a total of $3,365,359. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $168,268 on average. All figures come fromFollow the Money

See also

Suggest a link

• Tennessee State Legislature
• Tennessee State Senate
• Tennessee House of Representatives

External links

• The Tennessee State Legislature

Footnotes

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