2008 Tennessee elections
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| Elections in Tennessee |
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Tennessee state elections in 2008 were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as various judicial retention elections, including elections for two Tennessee Supreme Court justices, were held on August 7, 2008.
Presidential election[edit]
President of the United States[edit]
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
In 2008, Tennessee had 11 electoral votes in the Electoral College at the time. In the general election, Republican candidate John McCain won the state with 56.85% of the vote to Democratic candidate Obama's 41.79%.
The presidential primaries were held on February 5, 2008. Mike Huckabee won Tennessee's Republican primary over Senator John McCain of Arizona. Former first lady Hillary Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama of Illinois in the Tennessee Democratic primary.
Results[edit]
| United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2008[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | John McCain | Sarah Palin | 1,479,178 | 56.85% | 11 | |
| Democratic | Barack Obama | Joe Biden | 1,087,437 | 41.79% | 0 | |
| Independent | Ralph Nader | Matt Gonzalez | 11,560 | 0.44% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Bob Barr | Wayne Allyn Root | 8,547 | 0.33% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Chuck Baldwin | Darrell Castle | 8,191 | 0.31% | 0 | |
| Green | Cynthia McKinney | Rosa Clemente | 2,499 | 0.10% | 0 | |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | Write-ins | 2,333 | 0.09% | 0 | |
| Socialist | Brian Moore | Stewart Alexander | 1,326 | 0.05% | 0 | |
| Boston Tea | Charles Jay | Thomas Knapp | 1,011 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Totals | 2,601,982 | 100.00% | 11 | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 55.5% | |||||
February 5, 2008, Primary Results[edit]
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 Primary results by county Clinton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Obama: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |
| Democratic Primary Presidential Preference[2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | National delegates |
| Hillary Clinton | 336,245 | 53.82% | 40 |
| Barack Obama | 254,874 | 40.48% | 28 |
| John Edwards | 27,820 | 4.45% | 0 |
| Joe Biden | 1,531 | 0.25% | 0 |
| Bill Richardson | 1,178 | 0.19% | 0 |
| Dennis Kucinich | 971 | 0.16% | 0 |
| Christopher Dodd | 526 | 0.08% | 0 |
| Mike Gravel | 461 | 0.07% | 0 |
| Uncommitted | 3,158 | 0.51% | 0 |
| Totals | 624,764 | 100.00% | 68 |
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 Election results by county.
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Mitt Romney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Huckabee | 190,904 | 34.37% | 25 |
| John McCain | 176,091 | 31.84% | 19 |
| Mitt Romney | 130,632 | 23.62% | 8 |
| Ron Paul | 31,026 | 5.61% | 0 |
| Fred Thompson* | 16,263 | 2.94% | 0 |
| Rudy Giuliani* | 5,159 | 0.93% | 0 |
| Alan Keyes | 978 | 0.18% | 0 |
| Duncan Hunter* | 738 | 0.13% | 0 |
| Tom Tancredo* | 194 | 0.03% | 0 |
| Uncommitted | 1,830 | 0.33% | 0 |
| Total | 553,005 | 100% | 52 |
* Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary
United States Congress[edit]
Senate[edit]
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- 50–60%
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander won re-election to a second term, with 65.1% of the vote against Democrat Bob Tuke, who won just 32.6%.
Results[edit]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Lamar Alexander (Incumbent) | 1,579,477 | 65.14% | +10.87% | |
| Democratic | Bob Tuke | 767,236 | 31.64% | -12.69% | |
| Independent | Edward L. Buck | 31,631 | 1.30% | N/A | |
| Independent | Christopher G. Fenner | 11,073 | 0.46% | N/A | |
| Independent | Daniel Towers Lewis | 9,367 | 0.39% | N/A | |
| Independent | Chris Lugo | 9,170 | 0.38% | N/A | |
| Independent | Ed Lawhorn | 8,986 | 0.37% | N/A | |
| Independent | David Gatchell | 7,645 | 0.32% | N/A | |
| Majority | 812,241 | 33.50% | +23.56% | ||
| Turnout | 2,424,585 | 66.34% | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
August 7, 2008, Primary Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bob Tuke | 59,050 | 32.21% | |
| Democratic | Gary G. Davis | 39,119 | 21.34% | |
| Democratic | Mike Padgett | 33,471 | 18.26% | |
| Democratic | Mark E. Clayton | 32,309 | 17.62% | |
| Democratic | Kenneth Eaton | 14,702 | 8.02% | |
| Democratic | Leonard D. Ladner | 4,697 | 2.55% | |
| Total votes | 183,348 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Lamar Alexander (Incumbent) | 244,222 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 244,222 | 100.00% | ||
House of Representatives[edit]
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- >90%
Tennessee elected nine U.S. representatives, each representing one of Tennessee's nine congressional districts.
Results[edit]
| District | Incumbent | Party | First elected |
Results | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee 1 | David Davis | Republican | 2006 | Incumbent lost renomination. New member elected. Republican hold. |
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| Tennessee 2 | Jimmy Duncan | Republican | 1998 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 3 | Zach Wamp | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 4 | Lincoln Davis | Democratic | 2002 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 5 | Jim Cooper | Democratic | 1982 1994 (retired) 2002 |
Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 6 | Bart Gordon | Democratic | 1984 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 7 | Marsha Blackburn | Republican | 2002 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 8 | John Tanner | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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| Tennessee 9 | Steve Cohen | Democratic | 2006 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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State legislature[edit]
State Senate[edit]
Elections for 16 of the 33 seats in Tennessee's State Senate were held on November 4, 2008.
After this election, Republicans had 19 seats while Democrats had 14 seats, with Republicans gaining three seats, fully flipping the senate.
State House of Representatives[edit]
The election of all 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives occurred on November 4, 2008.
Republicans won 50 seats, while Democrats won 49 seats. Republicans gained four seats, flipping the house during this election.
Supreme Court[edit]
Retention elections (August 7, 2008)[edit]
All incumbent Tennessee Supreme Court Justices won their retention elections, getting eight more years.
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes
|
295,754 | 76.15 |
| No | 92,632 | 23.85 |
| Total votes | 388,386 | 100.00 |
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes
|
296,645 | 77.08 |
| No | 88,193 | 22.92 |
| Total votes | 384,838 | 100.00 |
See also[edit]
- Elections in Tennessee
- Political party strength in Tennessee
- Tennessee Democratic Party
- Tennessee Republican Party
- Government of Tennessee
- Tennessee Supreme Court
- 2008 United States elections
References[edit]
- ^ "Official General Election Results". The Green Papers. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ "Democratic Primary Presidential Preference" (PDF). Tennessee Department of State. February 5, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Republican Primary Presidential Preference" (PDF).
- ^ "RESULTS: Tennessee". CNN. February 5, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
- ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b State of Tennessee General Election Results, August 7, 2008, Results By Office (Report). Secretary of State of Tennessee. Retrieved January 17, 2023.