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Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2016
2018 →
← 2014
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November 8, 2016 |
August 4, 2016 |
David Kustoff  |
Stephen Lee Fincher |
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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 8th 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 Stephen Lee Fincher did not seek re-election to his seat in 2016. Twenty-one candidates filed in the race to replace him. David Kustoff (R) defeated Rickey Hobson (D), and independents Shelia Godwin, James Hart, Adrian Montague, Mark Rawles, and Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane in the general election on November 8, 2016. Hobson defeated Gregory Alan Frye in the Democratic primary, while Kustoff defeated 12 other candidates in the Republican primary. 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 Stephen Lee Fincher (R), who was first elected in 2010. He chose not to run for re-election to his seat in 2016.[8]
The 8th District is located in the northwest region of Tennessee and borders Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The district is made up of Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Haywood, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, Obion, Tipton,and Weakley counties and portions of Benton and Shelby counties.[9]
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  David Kustoff |
68.8% | 194,386 | |
| Democratic | Rickey Hobson | 25.1% | 70,925 | |
| Independent | Shelia Godwin | 2.3% | 6,442 | |
| Independent | James Hart | 1.4% | 4,057 | |
| Independent | Adrian Montague | 0.9% | 2,497 | |
| Independent | Mark Rawles | 0.9% | 2,445 | |
| Independent | Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane | 0.7% | 1,981 | |
| Total Votes | 282,733 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State | ||||
Primary election
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
David Kustoff |
27.4% | 16,889 | ||
| George Flinn Jr. | 23.1% | 14,200 | ||
| Mark Luttrell | 17.7% | 10,878 | ||
| Brian Kelsey | 12.9% | 7,942 | ||
| Brad Greer | 11.1% | 6,819 | ||
| Tom Leatherwood | 4.3% | 2,620 | ||
| Hunter Baker | 1.6% | 1,014 | ||
| Ken Atkins | 0.7% | 410 | ||
| Raymond Honeycutt | 0.4% | 231 | ||
| George Howell | 0.3% | 211 | ||
| David Wharton | 0.2% | 131 | ||
| David Bault | 0.2% | 109 | ||
| David Maldonado | 0.1% | 76 | ||
| Total Votes | 61,530 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rickey Hobson |
54.8% | 7,774 | ||
| Gregory Frye | 45.2% | 6,413 | ||
| Total Votes | 14,187 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State |
||||
Candidates
|
General election candidates: David Kustoff   Rickey Hobson Shelia Godwin James Hart Adrian Montague Mark Rawles Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane |
|
Primary candidates:[10] |
|
Democratic Rickey Hobson[4] |
Republican Hunter Baker[12] David Bault - Inspector for Terminix[13] George Flinn Jr., M.D.[14] Brad Greer[15] Raymond Honeycutt[4] George Howell[4] Brian Kelsey - State Senator[8] David Kustoff - Former U.S. Attorney[16] Tom Leatherwood - Shelby County Register of Deeds[16] Mark Luttrell[17] David Maldonado[18] David Wharton[4] |
|
Third Party/Other James Hart (Independent)[4] Adrian Montague (Independent)[4] Mark Rawles (Independent)[4] Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane (Independent)[4] |
|
Not running: |
|
Withdrew: Steve Basar (R) - Shelby County Commissioner[16][19] James Coffman (D)[4] Erika Stotts Pearson (D)[4] |
Media
George Flinn Jr.
|
Brian Kelsey
|
David Kustoff
|
Mark Luttrell
|
District history
2014
Incumbent Stephen Lee Fincher won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. He defeated Wes Bradley, Mark Rawles and James Hart in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Stephen Lee Fincher Incumbent |
70.8% | 122,205 | |
| Democratic | Wes Bradley | 24.6% | 42,403 | |
| Constitution | Mark Rawles | 2.6% | 4,450 | |
| Independent | James Hart | 2% | 3,446 | |
| Total Votes | 172,504 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State Vote totals above are unofficial and will be updated once official totals are made available. | ||||
2012
The 8th Congressional District of Tennessee held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Stephen Lee Fincher won re-election in the district.[20]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Timothy Dixon | 28.4% | 79,490 | |
| Republican | Stephen Lee Fincher Incumbent |
68.3% | 190,923 | |
| Independent | James Hart | 2.2% | 6,139 | |
| Independent | Mark Rawles | 1% | 2,870 | |
| Total Votes | 279,422 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Tennessee elections, 2016
The calendar below lists 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
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 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
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Tennessean, "Rep. Fincher won't seek re-election; Kelsey to run," February 1, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Redistricting Map "Map" accessed July 30, 2012
- ↑ Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Fayette County Republican seeks 8th District seat," February 8, 2016
- ↑ Stormfields, "Hunter Baker for Congress, 2016," March 7, 2016
- ↑ The Jackson Sun, "Congressional candidate update," February 4, 2016
- ↑ WREG Memphis, "Three candidates vying for Rep. Fincher’s congressional seat," February 1, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, "Email correspondence with Brad Greer," February 26, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 The Commercial Appeal, "Republicans line up for Rep. Fincher's seat," February 1, 2016
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Luttrell announces his run for Congress," February 29, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, "Email correspondence with David Maldonado," March 2, 2016
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Basar changes mind on run for Congress," March 29, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Tennessee"
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
