2018 Tennessee State Senate election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
18 of the 33 seats in the Tennessee State Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Randy McNally Lee Harris (retired) Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 5th district 29th district Last election 28 seats 5 seats Seats before 28 5 Seats won 28 5 Seat change Popular vote 671,278 459,033 Percentage 58.86% 40.25% Swing 21.96% 22.85%
Results by gains and holds Results by winning party vote share Results:      Republican hold      Democratic hold      No Election Vote Share:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%      80–90%      >90%
Speaker before election Randy McNally Republican Elected Speaker Randy McNally Republican

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Government

The 2018 Tennessee State Senate election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect 18 of the 33 seats for the Tennessee's State Senate. The elections coincided with the Governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and State House elections. The primary elections were held on August 2, 2018.^[1]

Retirements[edit]

Three incumbents (2 Democrats and 1 Republican) did not run for re-election in 2018. Those incumbents are:

Democrats[edit]

1. District 19: Thelma Harper retired.
2. District 29: Lee Harris retired to run for mayor of Shelby County.

Republicans[edit]

1. District 13: Bill Ketron retired to run for mayor of Rutherford County.

Incumbents defeated[edit]

In the primary election[edit]

Democrats[edit]

1. District 33: Reginald Tate lost renomination to Katrina Robinson.

Results summary[edit]

Summary of the November 6, 2018 Tennessee Senate election results

Party		Candidates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	Before	Up	Won	After	+/–
	Republican	16	671,278	58.86	28	14	14	28
	Democratic	15	459,033	40.25	5	4	4	5
	Independent	2	9,756	0.86	0	0	0	0
	Write-in	2	421	0.04	0	0	0	0
Total			1,140,488	100	33	18	18	33
Source: [1]

Popular vote Republican   58.86% Democratic   40.25% Other   0.90%

Senate seats Republican   84.85% Democratic   15.15%

Closest race[edit]

This race was decided by a margin of under 10%:

District	Winner	Margin
District 31	Republican	1.78%

Detailed results by State Senate District[edit]

District 1 • District 2 (special) • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33

Sources: ^[2][3][4]

District 1[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Southerland (incumbent)	22,806	100
Total votes			22,806	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 1st State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Southerland (incumbent)	43,262	100
Total votes			43,262	100
	Republican hold

District 2 (special)[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Art Swann (incumbent)	13,824	56.54
	Republican	Scott P. Williams	6,836	27.96
	Republican	Wesley P. Maples	3,792	15.51
Total votes			24,452	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	J. Nathan Higdon (write-in)	314	100
Total votes			314	100

Special election[edit]

Tennessee's 2nd State Senate District Special Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Art Swann (incumbent)	55,595	99.28
	Write-in	J. Nathan Higdon	402	0.72
Total votes			55,997	100
	Republican hold

District 3[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rusty Crowe (incumbent)	22,481	100
Total votes			22,481	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 3rd State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rusty Crowe (incumbent)	50,236	100
Total votes			50,236	100
	Republican hold

District 5[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy McNally (incumbent)	23,525	100
Total votes			23,525	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stuart Starr	6,303	100
Total votes			6,303	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 5th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy McNally (incumbent)	48,336	71.84
	Democratic	Stuart Starr	18,948	28.16
Total votes			83,019	100
	Republican hold

District 7[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Briggs (incumbent)	19,166	100
Total votes			19,166	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jamie Ballinger	9,319	100
Total votes			9,319	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 7th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Briggs (incumbent)	38,558	55.57
	Democratic	Jamie Ballinger	30,826	44.43
Total votes			69,384	100

District 9[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Bell (incumbent)	24,548	100
Total votes			24,548	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carl Lansden	4,775	100
Total votes			4,775	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 9th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Bell (incumbent)	45,006	77.74
	Democratic	Carl Lansden	12,887	22.26
Total votes			57,893	100
	Republican hold

District 11[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bo Watson (incumbent)	20,257	100
Total votes			20,257	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Randall "Randy" Price	8,152	100
Total votes			8,152	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 11th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bo Watson (incumbent)	51,082	65.14
	Democratic	Randall "Randy" Price	27,332	34.86
Total votes			78,141	100
	Republican hold

District 13[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dawn White	10,639	58.22
	Republican	Ernest G. Burgess	7,635	41.78
Total votes			18,274	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kelly Northcutt	8,217	100
Total votes			8,217	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 13th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dawn White	36,594	57.07
	Democratic	Kelly Northcutt	25,974	40.50
	Independent	Ginger Smith	1,559	2.43
Total votes			64,127	100
	Republican hold

District 15[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Bailey (incumbent)	25,808	100
Total votes			25,808	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Angela Hedgecough	7,636	100
Total votes			7,636	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 15th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Bailey (incumbent)	48,919	73.64
	Democratic	Angela Hedgecough	17,512	26.36
Total votes			66,431	100
	Republican hold

District 17[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Pody (incumbent)	31,437	100
Total votes			31,437	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Alice Carfi	10,460	100
Total votes			10,460	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 17th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Pody (incumbent)	53,364	70.39
	Democratic	Mary Alice Carfi	22,452	29.61
Total votes			75,816	100
	Republican hold

District 19[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brenda Gilmore	13,885	64.70
	Democratic	Howard Jones	5,262	24.52
	Democratic	Sandra Moore	1,181	5.50
	Democratic	George Thomas	1,132	5.28
Total votes			21,460	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 19th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brenda Gilmore	49,586	85.79
	Independent	Christina "Chris" Callaway	6,271	10.85
	Independent	Rueben "Dock" Dockery	1,926	3.33
	Write-in	Howard Jones	19	0.03
Total votes			57,802	100
	Democratic hold

District 21[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Yarbro (incumbent)	19,402	100
Total votes			19,402	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 21st State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Yarbro (incumbent)	55,905	100
Total votes			55,905	100
	Democratic hold

District 23[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Johnson (incumbent)	26,893	100
Total votes			26,893	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kristen Grimm	9,673	100
Total votes			9,673	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 23rd State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Johnson (incumbent)	68,118	66.90
	Democratic	Kristen Grimm	33,710	33.11
Total votes			101,828	100
	Republican hold

District 25[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kerry Roberts (incumbent)	23,909	100
Total votes			23,909	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wade Munday	9,078	100
Total votes			9,078	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 25th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kerry Roberts (incumbent)	47,188	71.52
	Democratic	Wade Munday	18,795	28.49
Total votes			65,983	100
	Republican hold

District 27[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ed Jackson (incumbent)	14,404	70.76
	Republican	Brandon Dodds	5,951	29.24
Total votes			20,355	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Savannah Williamson	3,692	42.99
	Democratic	Jackie Williams	3,637	42.35
	Democratic	John H. York Jr.	1,259	14.66
Total votes			8,588	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 27th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ed Jackson (incumbent)	35,837	65.14
	Democratic	Savannah Williamson	19,177	34.86
	Write-in	John H. York Jr.	0	0.00
Total votes			55,014	100
	Republican hold

District 29[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Raumesh Akbari	14,861	58.42
	Democratic	Justin Ford	10,577	41.58
Total votes			25,438	100

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Stephens	3,873	100
Total votes			3,873	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 29th State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Raumesh Akbari	43,851	83.48
	Republican	Tom Stephens	8,679	16.52
Total votes			52,530	100
	Democratic hold

District 31[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brian Kelsey (incumbent)	22,767	100
Total votes			22,767	100

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gabby Salinas	7,737	47.98
	Democratic	David Weatherspoon	6,890	42.73
	Democratic	M. Rodanial Ray Ransom	1,499	9.30
Total votes			16,126	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 31st State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brian Kelsey (incumbent)	40,504	50.89
	Democratic	Gabby Salinas	39,086	49.11
Total votes			79,590	100
	Republican hold

District 33[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katrina Robinson	14,164	68.66
	Democratic	Reginald Tate (incumbent)	6,464	31.34
Total votes			20,628	100

General election[edit]

Tennessee's 33rd State Senate District General Election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katrina Robinson	42,992	100
Total votes			42,992	100
	Democratic hold

See also[edit]

• 2018 Tennessee elections
• 2018 Tennessee House of Representatives election

References[edit]