Yesterday’s midterm elections continued what has become the norm in recent years with Tennessee races yielding few surprises and Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate remaining strong. There were a handful of seats that were considered competitive, but ultimately only one seat flipped when Representative John Mark Windle (I) of Morgan County was defeated by his Republican opponent.
Republican Governor Bill Lee was reelected by a large margin to another term over Democrat Jason Martin. All nine congressional seats were up for election with all incumbents easily winning reelection. In the newly drawn District 5 in Nashville, Republican Andy Ogles prevailed over Democrat Heidi Campbell. The state’s congressional delegation now consists of eight Republicans and one Democrat.
All 99 seats in the state House of Representatives and half of the 33 Senate seats were on the ballot. The Republican supermajority in the House grew by one as 74 Republicans and 25 Democrats will serve in the 113th General Assembly. The Senate makeup remains 27-6.
Changes in the legislature include:
House
District 13 (Rutherford County): Robert Stevens (R) won the newly drawn legislative seat.
District 18 (Knox County): Elaine Davis (R) won a spirited primary and succeeds retiring Eddie Mannis with a win in the general.
District 20 (Blount County): Bryan Richey (R) unseated Dr. Bob Ramsey in the primary and was unopposed in the general.
District 24 (Bradley County): Kevin Raper (R) won the primary in the seat Mark Hall vacated for his unsuccessful bid the State Senate and was unopposed in the general.
District 26 (Hamilton County): Greg Martin (R) won a two-year term after serving in an interim basis after Robin Smith vacated the seat due to a criminal investigation.
District 32 (Roane County, etc.): Marty Fritts (R) won the open seat after Kent Calfee did not seek reelection.
District 35 (Sumner County, etc.): William Slater (R) won in this redrawn legislative district.
District 40 (Smith County, etc.): Michael Hale (R) defeated incumbent Terri Lynn Weaver in the primary and won the general easily.
District 41 (Morgan County, etc.): Ed Butler (R) unseated Representative John Mark Windle (I) to add to the Republican Caucus. Windle previously served as a member of the Democratic Party and was the lone rural democrat in the legislature before his switch to Independent earlier this year.
District 52 (Davidson County): Justin Jones (D), an activist familiar with the legislature, will now be a member in the seat formerly held by Mike Stewart, who did not seek reelection.
District 59 (Davidson County): Caleb Hemmer (D) helps the Democrats maintain their hold on the Davidson County delegation by securing the newly drawn district formerly held by Jason Potts.
District 61 (Williamson County): Gino Bulso (R) won a contested primary to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Ogles and easily won the general.
District 63 (Williamson County): Jake McCalmon (R) takes the seat left open by Glen Casada.
District 67 (Montgomery County): Perennial Republican candidate Tommy Vallejos and well-known Democrat Ronnie Glynn fought it out in the general for the seat vacated by Jason Hodges. Glynn was the winner in the closest race in the state with approximately 153 votes separating the two candidates.
District 69 (Hickman County, etc.): Jody Barrett (R) won a hard-fought primary to serve in the seat vacated by Michael Curcio and won the general by a large margin.
District 71 (Wayne County, etc.): Kip Capley (R) won the seat formerly held by David Byrd.
District 75 (Montgomery County): Jeff Burkhart (R) won the primary to represent this newly drawn seat with no opposition in the general.
District 79 (Gibson County, etc.): Brock Martin (R) will represent the district formerly held by retiring Curtis Halford.
District 86 (Shelby County): Barbara Cooper (D), the oldest serving member of any legislature in the country, passed away last month at the age of 93. Michael Porter (I) was on the ballot to challenge Ms. Cooper but came up short. A special election to determine who will serve is expected the first quarter of next year.
District 90 (Knox County): Gloria Johnson (D) has served Knox County in district 13 for several terms but was drawn out during redistricting. She subsequently moved into the new district 90 and prevailed against David “Pozy” Poczobut (R).
District 91 (Shelby County) Torrey Harris (D) represented district 90 for one term and has since been redrawn into district 91, where he won the primary and was uncontested in the general election for the seat formerly held by London Lamar.
Senate
District 9 (Bradley County): Adam Lowe (R) won a hard-fought primary after Senate Judiciary Chairman Mike Bell vacated the seat earlier this fall and won the general overwhelmingly.
District 19 (Davidson County): Charlane Oliver (D) won the primary to represent the district vacated by Brenda Gilmore and easily won the general.
District 31 (Shelby County): Brent Taylor (R) succeeds Brian Kelsey, who did not run for reelection and is currently under investigation for mishandling PAC dollars.
District 33 (Shelby County): London Lamar (D) was the interim appointment after Katrina Robinson was ousted related to a federal indictment and has now secured a four-year term.
113 General Assembly
The 113th General Assembly is scheduled to convene on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. It is believed Lt. Gov. McNally and Speaker Sexton will be reelected by their respective chambers to lead for the next two years. Governor Lee announced in his victory speech that infrastructure and violent crime would be among his top issues.
Full election results from the Secretary of State can be found here.
The Governor’s office will be holding budget hearings beginning this week. These hearings provide an opportunity for the public to hear each Commissioner lay out the priorities for their respective department and recommend program cuts and make requests for increased funding.
Live streaming will be accessible from the state website.