Political party strength in Tennessee

Table

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Tennessee:

• Governor

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the U.S. Senate
• State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

The parties are as follows:   Carter County Republican (CCR),   Constitutional Union (CU),   Democratic (D),   Democratic/Military (DM),   Democratic-Republican (DR),   Farmers' Alliance (FA),   Know Nothing (K-N),   Opposition (O),   Republican (R),   Unionist (U),   Whig (W), and   a tie or coalition within a group of elected officials.

Year	Executive office	State Legislature		United States Congress			Electoral College votes
	Governor	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House
1790	William Blount (DR)[1]					James White (DR)[2]
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796	John Sevier (DR)			William Cocke (DR)	William Blount (DR)[3]	Andrew Jackson (DR)	Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (DR) N
1797
				Andrew Jackson (DR)[4]	Joseph Anderson (DR)	William C. C. Claiborne (DR)
1798
				Daniel Smith (DR)
1799				Joseph Anderson (DR)	William Cocke (DR)
1800							Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (DR) Y
1801	Archibald Roane (DR)					William Dickson (DR)
1802
1803	John Sevier (DR)					3 DR
1804							Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton (DR) Y
1805					Daniel Smith (DR)
1806
1807
1808							James Madison and George Clinton (DR) Y
1809	Willie Blount (DR)
					Jenkin Whiteside (DR)
1810
1811
					George W. Campbell (DR)[5]
1812							James Madison and Elbridge Gerry (DR) Y
1813						6 DR
1814					Jesse Wharton (DR)
1815	Joseph McMinn (DR)			George W. Campbell (DR)
					John Williams (DR)
1816							James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins (DR) Y
1817
1818
				John Eaton (DR)[6]
1819
1820
1821	William Carroll (D-R)					5 DR (6th vacant)
1822
1823					Andrew Jackson (DR)[4]	9 DR (Jacksonian)
1824							Andrew Jackson N and John C. Calhoun Y (DR)
1825
					Hugh Lawson White (DR/D)
1826
1827	Sam Houston (DR)[7]					8J, 1A-J
1828							Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun (D) Y
1829
	William Hall (D)			Felix Grundy (D)[8]
	William Carroll (D)
1830
1831
1832							Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren (D) Y
1833						12J, 1A-J
1834
1835	Newton Cannon (W)					9A-J, 4J
1836		A-J Majority	A-J Majority		Hugh Lawson White (W)[4]		Hugh Lawson White and John Tyler (W) N
1837						10W, 3D
1838		18W, 7D	46W, 25D, 4?
				Ephraim H. Foster (W)
1839	James K. Polk (D)			Felix Grundy (D)[9]		7W, 6D
1840		14D, 11W	42D, 33W		Alexander O. Anderson (D)		William Henry Harrison and John Tyler (W) Y
1841	James C. Jones (W)			Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D)	Vacant	8W, 5D
1842		13D, 12A	39W, 36D
1843				Ephraim H. Foster (W)	Spencer Jarnagin (W)	6D, 5W
1844		14W, 11D	40W, 35D				Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen (W) N
1845	Aaron V. Brown (D)			Hopkins L. Turney (D)
1846		13D, 12W	39D, 36W
1847	Neill S. Brown (W)				John Bell (W/A)
1848		13W, 12D	41W, 34D				Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (W) Y
1849	William Trousdale (D)					7D, 4W
1850		14D, 11W	39D, 36W
1851	William B. Campbell (W)			James C. Jones (W)
1852		16W, 9D	39W, 36D				Winfield Scott and William Alexander Graham (W) N
1853	Andrew Johnson (D)					5D, 5W
1854		13D, 12A	44W, 31D			6W, 4D
1855						5D, 5A
1856		14A, 11D	38A, 37D				James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge (D) Y
1857	Isham G. Harris (D)			Andrew Johnson (D)		7D, 3A
1858		18D, 7A	42D, 33A
1859					Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D)	7O, 3D
1860		14D, 11O	41D, 34O				John Bell and Edward Everett (CU) N
1861						3U, (7 vacant)
1862		American Civil War	American Civil War		American Civil War
	Andrew Johnson (DM)			American Civil War
1863						American Civil War
1864							Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson (NU) Y
1865	Edward H. East (R)[10]
	William G. Brownlow (R)
1866		25R	79R, 4D	David T. Patterson (D)	Joseph S. Fowler (R)	8U
1867						8R
1868			83R				Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax (R) Y
1869	Dewitt Clinton Senter (R)			William G. Brownlow (R)
1870		20D, 5R	66D, 17R
1871	John C. Brown (D)	22D, 3R	63D, 12R		Henry Cooper (D)	6D, 2R
1872							Thomas A. Hendricks and Benjamin Gratz Brown (D) N
1873		18D, 7R	49D, 26R			7R, 3D
1874
1875	James D. Porter (D)	23D, 2R	70D, 5R	Andrew Johnson (D)[9]		9D, 1R
				David M. Key (D)
1876							Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks (D) N
1877		20D, 5R	59D, 16R	James E. Bailey (D)	Isham G. Harris (D)[9]	8D, 2R
1878
1879	Albert S. Marks (D)	22D, 3R	61D, 14R			9D, 1R
1880							Winfield Scott Hancock and William Hayden English (D) N
1881	Alvin Hawkins (R)	15D, 10R	37R, 37D, 1G[11]	Howell Edmunds Jackson (D)[12]		7D, 3R
1882
1883	William B. Bate (D)	27D, 6R	71D, 28R			8D, 2R
1884							Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks (D) Y
1885		22D, 11R	81D, 18R			7D, 3R
1886
				Washington C. Whitthorne (D)
1887	Robert Love Taylor (D)	21D, 12R	63D, 36R	William B. Bate (D)[9]		8D, 2R
1888							Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman (D) N
1889		23D, 10R	69D, 30R			7D, 3R
1890
1891	John P. Buchanan (FA)	25D, 8R	79D, 20R			8D, 2R
1892							Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson I (D) Y
1893	Peter Turney (D)	25D, 6R, 1P, 1I	68D, 26R, 5P
1894
1895		21D, 10R, 1P, 1U	60D, 32R, 7P			6D, 4R
1896							William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewall (D) N
1897	Robert Love Taylor (D)	24D, 9R	63D, 32R, 4P			8D, 2R
					Thomas B. Turley (D)
1898
1899	Benton McMillin (D)	25D, 8R	77D, 22R
1900							William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson I (D) N
1901		27D, 5R, 1ID	76D, 23R		Edward W. Carmack (D)
1902
1903	James B. Frazier (D)[13]	28D, 5R	83D, 16R
1904							Alton B. Parker and Henry G. Davis (D) N
1905			80D, 19R
	John I. Cox (D)			James B. Frazier (D)
1906
1907	Malcolm R. Patterson (D)	27D, 6R	78D, 21R		Robert Love Taylor (D)[9]
1908							William Jennings Bryan and John W. Kern (D) N
1909		28D, 5R	77D, 22R
1910
1911	Ben W. Hooper (R)	21D, 7R, 4RD, 1I	74D, 25R	Luke Lea (D)
1912					Newell Sanders (R)		Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall (D) Y
1913		16D, 6R, 6RD, 5ID	52D, 27R, 20I		William R. Webb (D)
					John K. Shields (D)
1914
1915	Tom C. Rye (D)	26D, 7R	72D, 27R
1916
1917		27D, 6R		Kenneth McKellar (D)
1918
1919	A. H. Roberts (D)	26D, 7R
1920							Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge (R) Y
1921	Alfred A. Taylor (R)	24D, 9R	66D, 32R, 1I			5D, 5R
1922
1923	Austin Peay (D)[14]	28D, 5R	76D, 23R			8D, 2R
1924							John W. Davis and Charles W. Bryan (D) N
1925		29D, 4R			Lawrence Tyson (D)[9]
1926
1927	Henry Hollis Horton (D)	28D, 5R	80D, 19R
1928							Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis (R) Y
1929		25D, 8R	72D, 27R
					William Emerson Brock (D)
1930
1931		28D, 5R	83D, 16R		Cordell Hull (D)[15]
1932							Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner (D) Y
1933	Harry Hill McAlister (D)	29D, 4R	81D, 18R		Nathan L. Bachman (D)[9]	7D, 2R
1934
1935		28D, 5R
1936
1937	Gordon Browning (D)	29D, 4R
					George L. Berry (D)
1938
1939	Prentice Cooper (D)		83D, 16R		Tom Stewart (D)
1940							Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry A. Wallace (D) Y
1941
1942
1943		30D, 3R	78D, 20R, 1I			8D, 2R
1944							Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman (D) Y
1945	Jim Nance McCord (D)	28D, 5R	75D, 24R
1946
1947		29D, 4R	82D, 17R
1948							Harry S. Truman and Alben W. Barkley (D) Y
1949	Gordon Browning (D)		80D, 19R		Estes Kefauver (D)[9]
1950
1951
1952							Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon (R) Y
1953	Frank G. Clement (D)	28D, 5R	81D, 18R	Al Gore, Sr. (D)		7D, 2R
1954
1955			80D, 19R
1956
1957		27D, 6R	78D, 21R
1958
1959	Buford Ellington (D)	28D, 5R	82D, 17R
1960							Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R) N
1961		27D, 6R	81D, 18R
1962
1963	Frank G. Clement (D)		78D, 21R		Herbert S. Walters (D)	6D, 3R
1964							Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey (D) Y
1965		25D, 8R	74D, 25R		Ross Bass (D)
1966
1967	Buford Ellington (D)		58D, 41R		Howard Baker (R)	5D, 4R
1968							Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew (R) Y
1969		20D, 13R	49R, 49D, 1I[16]
1970		21D, 12R
1971	Winfield Dunn (R)	19D, 13R, 1A	56D, 43R	Bill Brock (R)
1972
1973			51D, 48R			5R, 3D
1974
1975	Ray Blanton (D)	20D, 12R, 1I	63D, 35R, 1I			5D, 3R
1976							Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale (D) Y
1977		23D, 9R, 1I	66D, 32R, 1I	Jim Sasser (D)
1978
1979	Lamar Alexander (R)	20D, 12R, 1I	60D, 38R, 1I
1980							Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush (R) Y
1981			58D, 39R, 2I
1982		21D, 11R, 1I
1983			60D, 38R, 1I			6D, 3R
1984		22D, 11R
1985		23D, 10R	62D, 37R		Al Gore (D)[17]
1986
1987	Ned McWherter (D)		61D, 38R
1988							George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle (R) Y
1989		22D, 11R	59D, 40R
1990
1991		20D, 13R	55D, 44R
1992							Bill Clinton and Al Gore (D) Y
1993		19D, 14R	64D, 35R		Harlan Matthews (D)
1994
					Fred Thompson (R)[18]
1995	Don Sundquist (R)	18D, 15R	59D, 40R	Bill Frist (R)		5R, 4D
1996		17R, 16D[19]
1997		18D, 15R	61D, 38R
1998
1999			59D, 40R
2000							George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (R) Y
2001		18D, 15R	58D, 41R
2002
2003	Phil Bredesen (D)		54D, 45R		Lamar Alexander (R)	5D, 4R
2004
2005		17R, 16D[20]	53D, 46R
2006
2007		17R, 16D		Bob Corker (R)
		16R, 16D, 1I
		16R, 15D, 1I
		16R, 16D, 1I
2008							John McCain and Sarah Palin (R) N
2009		19R, 14D	50R, 49D
			49R, 49D, 1CCR[21]
2010			50R, 48D, 1I
2011	Bill Haslam (R)	20R, 13D	64R, 34D, 1I			7R, 2D
2012							Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan (R) N
2013		26R, 7D	71R, 27D, 1I
2014
2015		28R, 5D	73R, 26D
2016							Donald Trump and Mike Pence (R) Y
2017			74R, 25D
2018		26R, 5D, 2 vacancies
2019	Bill Lee (R)	28R, 5D	73R, 26D	Marsha Blackburn (R)
2020
Year	Governor	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral College votes
	Executive office	State Legislature		United States Congress

History of Political Parties in Tennessee

Pre-Civil War

In 1789, the land that would later become Tennessee became a territory of the United States and was known as the "Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio."[22] Even though Tennessee was not yet a state, the citizens of the territory still needed institutions to govern over them, therefore William Blount was named the first official governor of Tennessee, James White became the state's first representative in Congress, and Tennessee's political party history was started. The majority party in Tennessee began as the Democratic-Republican party and remained this way until 1828 when the Democratic-Republican party dissolved and the Democratic Party was formed. [23]After 1828, the majority party in the Tennessee state government alternated between the Democratic Party and the Opposition Party until the American Civil War began in 1861. While these two parties fought for the majority during these years, the Know-Nothing Party, the Unionist Party, and the Constitutional Party all made appearances in the state government but did not possess the majority of citizens' votes.

Civil War to WWII

From the Civil War until World War II, Tennessee was controlled by the Democratic Party, albeit of the Southern Democrats wing of the party.

World War II to Present Day

During the period from 1939 until about 1970, there was a large control of the Democratic party in Tennessee. This was primarily due to the racial tensions that were still in place in the South, during this time and the granted right to vote to African Americans in the United States.[24] After 1970, there was a very noticeable shift in Tennessee back to a primarily red state. Today Tennessee overwhelmingly votes Republican.

Notes

1. Governor of Southwest Territory.
2. Delegate for Southwest Territory.
3. Expelled from the United States Senate for conspiring with the British to seize West Florida from Spain.
4. Resigned.
5. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of the Treasury.
6. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of War.
7. Resigned amidst personal scandals.
8. Resigned to take office as United States Attorney General.
9. Died in office.
10. Served as secretary of state of Tennessee from 1862 until 1865, having been appointed by Andrew Johnson, the military governor of the state under Union occupation during the American Civil War. After Johnson was inaugurated as vice president of the United States on March 4, 1865, East became "Acting Governor of Tennessee" until William G. Brownlow, the elected governor of Tennessee, was inaugurated on April 5, 1865. The official Tennessee Blue Book does not include East in its list of former Governors.
11. The Greenback member supported the Republicans in the vote for Speaker, giving them control of the chamber.
12. Resigned to take seat on the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit.
13. Resigned to take seat in the United States Senate.
14. Peay is the only Governor of Tennessee to have died in office. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Henry Hollis Horton.
15. Resigned to take office as United States Secretary of State.
16. The Independent and one Democrat supported Republican Bill Jenkins in the vote for Speaker, giving the Republicans control for the only time in the 20th Century.
17. Resigned to take office as Vice President of the United States.
18. First elected in special election.
19. Two Democratic Senators switched parties to Republican, giving the Republicans control.
20. Reelected John Shelton Wilder to the Senate Speaker position as a minority-party Speaker.
21. On February 10, the executive committee of the Tennessee Republican Party voted to strip Speaker of the House Kent Williams of his party affiliation after he colluded with Democrats to be elected speaker. Williams chose "Carter County Republican" as his new party designation.
22. "From Territory to State | Tennessee Secretary of State". sos.tn.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
23. "Democratic Party".
24. Dickey, John (December 2016). "The Decline of Agriculture and the Rise of Republican Party Strength in the South". University of Tennessee, Knoxville: 130.

See also

• Elections in Tennessee
• Politics in Tennessee