Tennessee

TENNESSEE

11 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Total Population, July 2008 est. 6,214,888
Total Registration, Nov. 2008 3,946,481
(Tennessee does not register voters by party).
Tennessee has: 95 counties.
Largest counties: Shelby, Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Rutherford. >
Largest cities: Memphis, Nashville-Davidson, Knoxville, Chattanooga. >

Government
Governor: Phil Bredesen (D) elected Nov.2002; re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Tennessee General Assembly House: 99 seats Senate: 33 seats
Local: Counties   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 5R, 4D - 1. D.Davis (R) | 2. J.Duncan (R) | 3. Z.Wamp (R) | 4. L.Davis (R) | 5. J.Cooper (D) | 6. B.Gordon (D) | 7. M.Blackburn (R) | 8. J.Tanner (D) | 9. S.Cohen (D).
U.S. Senate: Lamar Alexander (R) up for re-election in 2008, Bob Corker (R) elected in 2006.

2008 update
U.S. Senate: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) defeated Bob Tuke (D), by a more than two-to-one margin.
U.S. House: In the solidly Republican 1st CD (Northeast tip of Tennessee) first term Rep. David Davis (R) lost the primary to Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe (R); Roe went on to a resounding win over ETSU administrator and instructor Rob Russell (D). The U.S. House delegation remains unchanged at 5R, 4D.
State Legislature: Republicans won three Senate seats (19R, 14D) and four House seats (50R, 49D) to claim control of both houses for the first time since 1869.
    > Republicans gain control of the Senate and House chambers.

State of Tennessee
Department of State

Constitution Party of TN
Libertarian Party of TN
TN Democratic Party
TN Green Party
TN Republican Party

The Tennessean
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Politics1-TN

The Volunteer State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 4,533,233.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.3%.

Early votes: 1,516,031 (57.90% of total).

Absentee by mail votes: 63,929.

Official Results >
Obama/Biden (Dem.)	1,087,437	(41.83)
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	1,479,178	(56.90)
Baldwin/Castle (Ind.)	8,191	(0.32)
Barr/Root (Ind.)	8,547	(0.33)
Charles Jay (Ind.)	1,011	(0.04)
McKinney/Clemente (Ind.)	2,499	(0.10)
Moore/Alexander (Ind.)	1,326	(0.05)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)	11,560	(0.44)
Total........2,599,749

2008 Overview
McCain improved upon Bush's 2004 showing, gaining a plurality of 391,741 votes (15.07 percentage points) and carrying all but six counties (Shelby, Davidson, Hardeman, Haywood, Houston and Jackson). The presidential campaign came to Tennessee for the second presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville on Oct. 7, 2008, but otherwise was quiet (visits). A minor party note: Constitution Party vice presidential nominee Darrell Castle is a Tennessee native.
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

[Primary Election: Aug. 7, 2008]

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Early and absentee voting - Jan. 16-31, 2008: 320,939 votes (27.23% of 1,178,579 total votes).

Democrats
85 Delegates (68 Pledged and 17 Unpledged) and 11 Alternates.
2.10% of the 4,047 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Official Results

Joe Biden
1,531

0.25%

+Hillary Clinton
336,245

53.82%

Chris Dodd
526

0.08%

John Edwards
27,820

4.45%

Mike Gravel
461

0.07%

Dennis Kucinich
971

0.16%

Barack Obama
252,874

40.48%

Bill Richardson
1,178

0.18%

Uncommitted
3,158

0.51%

Total
624,764

Former Vice President Al Gore inspired a persistent draft movement and his role in the 2008 campaign was much speculated upon (whom might he endorse, could he play a broker role or even join a ticket as the vice presidential nominee).

Tennesseans For Russ Feingold

Republicans
55 Delegates: 3 RNC, 25 at-large and 27 CD (3 x 9 CDs).
2.31% of the 2,380 Delegates.

Allocation: At-large are winner-take-all, if receive 66% of statewide vote; otherwise,
proportional w/ 20% threshold. CD are winner-take-all, if receive 66% of statewide vote; otherwise, proportional w/ 20% threshold.

Huckabee | McCain | Paul | Romney former: FThompson

Official Results

Rudy Giuliani
5,159

0.93%

+Mike Huckabee
190,904

34.47%

Duncan Hunter
738

0.13%

Alan Keyes
978

0.18%

John McCain
176,091

31.80%

Ron Paul
31,026

5.60%

Mitt Romney
130,632

23.59%

Tom Tancredo
194

0.04%

Fred Thompson
16,263

2.94%

Uncommitted
1,830

0.33%

Total
553,815

Former Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) was seen as a possible 2008 candidate but ruled out a campaign on Nov. 29, 2006. >

Setting the Primary Date
Tennessee Code (Title 2, Chapter 13, Part 2: 2-13-205) formerly set out the date of the presidential preference primary as the second Tuesday in February. On March 22, 2007 the House passed HB2211 to move the date for presidential preference primary to the first Tuesday in February by a vote of 91-2 (and 1 present); the Senate followed on April 16 and Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) signed the legislation into law on April 30.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population*: 4,328,446.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.3%.

Early voting: Oct. 13-28, 2004 (15 days).
Early votes: 1,107,398 (45.08% of total).

Absentee by mail votes: 54,495.

Official Results
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	1,036,477	(42.53)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,384,375	(56.80)
Michael Badnarik (Ind.)	4,866	(0.20)
Ralph Nader (Ind.)	8,992	(0.37)
Michael Peroutka (Ind.)	2,570	(0.11)
Walt Brown (w/in)	6	-
David Cobb (win)	33	-
Total........2,437,319

Total Votes Cast: 2,456,610

2004 Overview
Bush won Tennessee with a comfortable plurality of 347,898 votes (14.27 percentage points), carrying 77 counties to 18 for Kerry.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04

[State Primary: August 5, 2004]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 4,162,996.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 49.9%.

Early voting: Oct. 18-Nov. 2, 2000 (15 days). Early votes: 749,170 (35.67% of total).

Absentee by mail votes: 47,954.

Official Results
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	981,720	(47.28)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,061,949	(51.14)
C.G.Brown/S.Allen (Ind.)	1,606	(0.08)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	4,284	(0.21)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	4,250	(0.20)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (Ref.)	613	(0.03)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)	19,781	(0.95)
Phillips/Frazier (Ind.)	1,015	(0.04)
R.Venson/G.Kelly (Ind.)	535	(0.03)
Write-Ins	428	(0.02)
Total........2,076,181

Total Votes Cast: 2,100,241

2000 Overview
Vice President Gore represented Tennessee for 16 years as a congressman and Senator. He still owns a farm in Carthage near where his mother lives. He moved his national campaign headquarters to Nashville from Washington, DC in October 1999. However, he still could not carry his home state; Gov. Bush won with a plurality of 80,299 votes (3.86 percentage points), carrying 59 counties to 36 for Gore.
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Clinton (Dem.).......933,521	(47.08)
Bush (Rep.)...........841,300	(42.43)
Perot (Ind.)............199,968	(10.08)
Others (11+w/ins)......7,849	(0.40)
Total........1,982,638

1996

Clinton (Dem.).......909,146	(48.00)
Dole (Rep.)............863,530	(45.59)
Perot (Ind.)...........105,918	(5.59)
Others (7+scat.)......16,111	(0.85)
Total........1,894,105

399,317 early votes/1,918,156 total votes- (20.82%)