Tennessee's 6th Congressional District election, 2016
2018 →
← 2014
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November 8, 2016 |
August 4, 2016 |
Diane Black  |
Diane Black |
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Cook Political Report: Solid R[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe R[2] Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe R[3] |
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The 6th Congressional District of Tennessee held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Diane Black (R) defeated David Kent (D) and David Ross (independent) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Black defeated Joe Carr, Tommy Hay, and Donald Strong in the Republican primary, while Kent defeated Flo Matheson to win the Democratic nomination. The primary elections took place on August 4, 2016.[4][5][6]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Tennessee utilizes a closed primary process; a voter must either be registered with a political party or must declare his or affiliation with the party at the polls on primary election day in order to vote in that party's primary.[7]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Incumbent: Heading into the election, the incumbent was Diane Black (R), who was first elected in 2010.
As of the 2010 redistricting cycle, Tennessee's 6th Congressional District was located in the northern and north-central portion of the state and included all of Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson counties and parts of Cheatham and Van Buren counties.[8]
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Diane Black Incumbent |
71.1% | 202,234 | |
| Democratic | David Kent | 21.8% | 61,995 | |
| Independent | David Ross | 7.1% | 20,261 | |
| Total Votes | 284,490 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State | ||||
Primary election
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Diane Black Incumbent |
63.7% | 33,215 | ||
| Joe Carr | 31.9% | 16,665 | ||
| Donald Strong | 2.6% | 1,354 | ||
| Tommy Hay | 1.8% | 945 | ||
| Total Votes | 52,179 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
David Kent |
67% | 7,551 | ||
| Flo Matheson | 33% | 3,714 | ||
| Total Votes | 11,265 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State |
||||
Candidates
|
General election candidates: Diane Black   David Kent David Ross |
|
Primary candidates:[9] |
|
Democratic Flo Matheson[4] |
Republican Joe Carr[4] Tommy Hay[4] Donald Strong[4] |
|
Third Party/Other |
District history
2014
Incumbent Diane Black (R) won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. She defeated Amos Powers (D) and Mike Winton (independent) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Diane Black Incumbent |
71.1% | 115,190 | |
| Democratic | Amos Powers | 23% | 37,215 | |
| Independent | Mike Winton | 5.9% | 9,630 | |
| Total Votes | 162,035 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State | ||||
2012
The 6th Congressional District of Tennessee held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Diane Black (R) won re-election in the district.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Diane Black Incumbent |
76.4% | 184,383 | |
| Green | Pat Riley | 9% | 21,633 | |
| Independent | Scott Beasley | 14.4% | 34,766 | |
| Write-In | N/A | 0.2% | 459 | |
| Total Votes | 241,241 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Tennessee elections, 2016
The calendar below listed important dates for political candidates in Tennessee in 2016.
| Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
| December 1, 2015 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for presidential primary candidates | |
| February 23, 2016 | Campaign finance | Pre-primary campaign financial disclosure reports for March county primary due | |
| March 1, 2016 | Election date | Presidential preference primary election | |
| April 7, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for partisan primary candidates and independent general election candidates | |
| April 11, 2016 | Campaign finance | First quarter campaign financial disclosure reports due | |
| April 26, 2016 | Campaign finance | Pre-primary campaign financial disclosure reports for May primary due | |
| May 3, 2016 | Election date | County primary election (if applicable) | |
| July 11, 2016 | Campaign finance | Second quarter campaign financial disclosure reports due | |
| July 28, 2016 | Campaign finance | Pre-primary campaign financial disclosure reports for August primary due | |
| July 28, 2016 | Campaign finance | Pre-general campaign financial disclosure reports for August general due | |
| August 4, 2016 | Election date | State primary and county general election (if applicable) | |
| October 11, 2016 | Campaign finance | Third quarter campaign financial disclosure reports due | |
| November 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | Pre-general campaign financial disclosure reports for November general due | |
| November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
| January 25, 2017 | Campaign finance | Fourth quarter campaign financial disclosure reports due | |
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State, "2016 Election Calendar," accessed June 12, 2015 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2016
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2016 House Race Ratings for July 11, 2016," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2016 House," accessed July 18, 2016
- ↑ Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "House Ratings," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Petitions Filed as of April 7, 2016 Noon Qualifying Deadline," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Tennessee House Primaries Results," August 4, 2016
- ↑ CNN, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2016
- ↑ LexisNexis, "Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-115," accessed July 16, 2025
- ↑ Tennessee Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed July 30, 2012
- ↑ Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Tennessee"
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
