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Raumesh Akbari
2018 - Present
2026
6
Raumesh Akbari (Democratic Party) is a member of the Tennessee State Senate, representing District 29. She assumed office on November 6, 2018. Her current term ends on November 3, 2026.
Akbari (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Tennessee State Senate to represent District 29. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.
Akbari has served as state Senate minority leader since January 10, 2023.[1]
Akbari is a former Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 91 from 2014 to 2018. She was first elected to the chamber in a special election on November 21, 2013.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Akbari was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Calendar Committee, 2nd Vice Chair
- Senate Education Committee
2021-2022
Akbari was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Senate Education Committee, 2nd vice chair
2019-2020
Akbari was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Labor Committee
- Senate Education Committee, 2nd Vice-Chair
- Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Tennessee committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Criminal Justice |
| • Education Administration and Planning |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Akbari served on the following committees:
| Tennessee committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Criminal Justice |
| • Education Instruction and Programs |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Tennessee State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Incumbent Raumesh Akbari is running in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Raumesh Akbari (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: Tennessee State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Incumbent Raumesh Akbari won election in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Raumesh Akbari (D) | 100.0 | 30,204 |
| Total votes: 30,204 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Incumbent Raumesh Akbari advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on August 4, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Raumesh Akbari | 100.0 | 21,565 |
| Total votes: 21,565 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
See also: Tennessee State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Raumesh Akbari defeated Tom Stephens in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Raumesh Akbari (D) | 83.5 | 43,851 |
 | Tom Stephens (R) | 16.5 | 8,679 | |
| Total votes: 52,530 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Raumesh Akbari defeated Justin Ford in the Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on August 2, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Raumesh Akbari | 58.4 | 14,861 |
| Justin Ford | 41.6 | 10,577 | ||
| Total votes: 25,438 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29
Tom Stephens advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 29 on August 2, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Stephens | 100.0 | 3,873 |
| Total votes: 3,873 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the Tennessee House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 4, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 7, 2016.
Incumbent Raumesh Akbari defeated Samuel Watkins in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 91 general election.[2][3]
| Tennessee House of Representatives, District 91 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Raumesh Akbari Incumbent |
82.35% | 14,580 | |
| Republican | Samuel Watkins | 17.65% | 3,125 | |
| Total Votes | 17,705 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Raumesh Akbari ran unopposed in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 91 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Tennessee House of Representatives, District 91 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Raumesh Akbari Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Samuel Watkins ran unopposed in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 91 Republican primary.[4][5]
| Tennessee House of Representatives, District 91 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Samuel Watkins (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 7, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 3, 2014. Incumbent Raumesh Akbari defeated Doris DeBerry-Bradshaw in the Democratic primary. Samuel Watkins defeated Orrden Williams, Jr. in the Republican primary. Akbari defeated Watkins in the general election.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Raumesh A. Akbari Incumbent |
81.9% | 8,053 | |
| Republican | Samuel (Sam) Watkins | 18.1% | 1,777 | |
| Total Votes | 9,830 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Raumesh Akbari Incumbent |
55.7% | 3,964 |
| Doris DeBerry-Bradshaw | 44.3% | 3,147 |
| Total Votes | 7,111 | |
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Samuel Watkins |
85.7% | 634 |
| Orrden Williams, Jr. | 14.3% | 106 |
| Total Votes | 740 | |
2013
Akbari won election in a special election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 91. The seat was vacant following Rep. Lois DeBerry (D)'s death on July 29, 2013, from pancreatic cancer. Akbari defeated Kemba Ford, Dwight DeBerry, Doris DeBerry-Bradshaw, Joshua R. Forbes, Terica Lamb, Clifford Lewis and Kermit Moore in the Democratic primary on October 8. Akbari defeated Jim Tomasik (L) in the special election, which took place on November 21.[8][9][10][11]
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2022
Raumesh Akbari did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Tennessee scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 9 to April 25.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 21.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 28.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 5.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 14 to June 19.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Tennessee General Assembly was in session January 8 through May 2.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, second session, was in session January 9 to April 27.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, first session, was in session January 10 to May 10.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 109th Tennessee General Assembly, second year, was in session from January 12 through April 22
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 109th Tennessee General Assembly, first year, was in session from January 13 through April 22.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 108th Tennessee General Assembly, second year, was in session from January 14 to April 18.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 108th Tennessee General Assembly, first year, was in session from January 8 to April 19.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Tennessee State Senate District 29 |
Officeholder Tennessee State Senate District 29 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Akbari elected new Senate minority leader, Republicans keep current leadership in place," December 15, 2022
- ↑ The New York Times, "Election 2016," accessed November 11, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "2016 general election results - Tennessee House of Representatives," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Petitions Filed as of April 8, 2016 Noon Qualifying Deadline," accessed April 11, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tennessee Secretary of State, "August 4, 2016 Unofficial Election Results," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "August 7, 2014 Election Results," accessed September 11, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Petitions Filed for State Senate and State House of Representatives," accessed April 5, 2014
- ↑ memphisdailynews.com, "11 File For State House District 91 Special Election," August 30, 2013
- ↑ shelbyvote.com, "Certified Candidate List," accessed September 6, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ memphisdailynews.com, "Akbari Wins Democratic State House Primary," October 9, 2013
- ↑ memphisdailynews.com, "'No' Pre-K Votes and Akbari Take Early Voting," November 22, 2013
- ↑ Tennessee Bar Association, "Nashville Chamber Releases 2015 Legislative Scorecard," accessed November 10, 2015
- ↑ Tennessee Bar Association, "Nashville Chamber Releases 2015 Legislative Scorecard," accessed November 10, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lee Harris (D) |
Tennessee State Senate District 29 2018-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 91 2014-2018 |
Succeeded by London Lamar (D) |
