Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 1 Democratic primary)

2026 → ← 2022
Tennessee's 8th Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: April 4, 2024
Primary: August 1, 2024 General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: Varies by county Voting in Tennessee
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
Tennessee's 8th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th Tennessee elections, 2024 U.S. Congress elections, 2024 U.S. Senate elections, 2024 U.S. House elections, 2024 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

A Democratic Party primary took place on August 1, 2024, in Tennessee's 8th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Sarah Freeman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 8.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 74.0%-24.3%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 67.9%-30.6%.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
April 4, 2024	August 1, 2024	November 5, 2024

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.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Tennessee's 8th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 1 Republican primary)
• Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2024

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 8

Sarah Freeman defeated Brenda Woods, Lynnette Williams, Leonard Perkins, and Lawrence Pivnick in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 8 on August 1, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Freeman	33.7	5,552
	Submit photo	Brenda Woods	27.8	4,580
	Submit photo	Lynnette Williams	17.5	2,887
		Leonard Perkins	13.1	2,160
		Lawrence Pivnick	7.8	1,279

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,458
= 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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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Sarah Freeman

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am a college history professor and lived in the same neighborhood in Germantown, TN since 1998. I specialize in U.S. southern, women's, and political history. Like many historians, I see the on-going attacks on our democratic institutions and principles and appeals to racism as dangerous and absolutely un-American. As a native southerner, born in Virginia, I cannot stand by and simply watch as people in the places I love are used as dupes to vote against their own best interests. There are real needs in West TN that can be addressed using the powers and the purse of the federal government. Many of the public schools are in very bad condition and their funding is threatened by the Republican super-majority in the state legislature. These Republicans are bound and determined to shift public funds away from public schools and into private schools. The federal government built public schools, libraries, hospitals, etc. across the South during the Great Depression of the 1930s--not to mention the Tennessee Valley Authority that continues to provide power today. When state governments are hijacked by MAGAites, only federal and local governments are left to serve the true interests of the people. If elected, I will fight to improve our public schools, make quality healthcare affordable and accessible, codify Roe, support our military, veterans, and allies, institute common sense gun laws, raise the minimum wage, protect workers', voting, LGBTQ+ rights and Social Security."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Roe must be codified. The passage of the Equal Rights Amendment is long overdue. We have seen over the last two years what the horrific consequences are for women and their families when women are denied critical reproductive healthcare. Congress has the authority and responsibility to censure and impeach U.S. Supreme Court justices. Alito and Thomas, in my opinion, are corrupt and unfit to serve. The peoples' faith in SCOTUS needs to be restored and women's rights to bodily autonomy need to be restored. Many of our basic human rights are on the ballot in 2024. The current incumbent has embraced Trump and MAGA and has no interest in protecting reproductive and contraceptive rights of Americans. These issues are inextricably linked.

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Common sense gun laws must be instated. My family lived through the Westside Middle school shootings of March 1998. I became vocal about the problems of bullying in schools and gun control. Do we love our guns more than we love our children? That question was not appreciated by members of the school board. We moved to TN that summer when it was clear that my activism would make it difficult for my family, especially my kids. We need to ban assault weapons, pass stricter background check laws and get rid of gun sale loopholes. We DO NOT need laws that allow teachers to carry guns in schools. That law in TN is a clear example of why the federal government, Congress, needs to get smart, tough, and reasonable about gun rights/safety.

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I deeply respect and will protect human rights. People of all races, creeds, sexual identity/orientation, ethnicity, class, sex, and gender should be treated equally under the law. And many have earned rights, protections, and benefits through their service to our country. My brother, Pfc. David Hunter Wilkerson, was killed in Vietnam at the age of nineteen. The rights of young people, military and veterans are very close to my heart. Social Security shall be protected. The current incumbent is on one House committee, Ways and Means. He has stated for years that SS is too expensive and should be done away with. He is doing nothing to protect our SS trust funds. I will sunset the Trump tax give away and use the funds to protect SS.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Tennessee District 8 in 2024.

Leonard Perkins

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "U.S. Air Force retired Air Traffic Controller 24-year pastor, retired BS from Crichton College MDiv from Memphis Theological Seminary"

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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End the toxicity in the House which distracts us from the major threats to our democracy. Veterans' issues need to be addressed to improve recruitment. Recruiting problems potentially weaken our nation.

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I will fight strenuously to return women's rights.

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Champion for human rights, labor and farmers.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Tennessee District 8 in 2024.

Lawrence Pivnick

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "My name is Larry Pivnick and I am a University of Memphis Emeritus Professor of Law and was the founder and director of the Law School's . free legal clinic program. I was president of the UM Faculty Senate and served as the University's Faculty Ombudsperson. Since retiring, i have served as president and on the executive committee of the UM Association of Retires, a leader of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope, and on the Steering Committees of the Shelby County Democratic Party and Germantown Democratic Club. I continue too provide free legal services, and I sing as a baritone with Memphis Choral Arts, an interfaith and interracial chorus."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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If elected, I pledge to represent ALL of West Tennessee’s city, village and rural people, not just wealthy individuals and big corporation, most of who seem hell bent in destroying the working and middle classes and the needy by jacking up prices and inflation and by not paying their fair share of taxes .

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I will work to enact laws of national applicability to address the refusal of the Tennessee state government to honor its citizens’ liberty rights, e.g., the right to choose, the right to public education, the right to affordable health care, and the right to be free from gun violence, all of which would further the common good and general welfare.

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I am a staunch supporter of the rights of Israel and Ukraine to exist as independent democratic nations and defend themselves

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Tennessee District 8 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Tennessee

Election information in Tennessee: Aug. 1, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: July 2, 2024
• By mail: Received by July 2, 2024
• Online: July 2, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: July 25, 2024
• By mail: Received by July 25, 2024
• Online: July 25, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: N/A
• By mail: Received by Aug. 1, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

July 12, 2024 to July 27, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

N/A

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Sarah Freeman	Democratic Party	$37,090	$35,672	$1,418	As of December 31, 2024
Leonard Perkins	Democratic Party	$14,065	$13,777	$288	As of October 3, 2024
Lawrence Pivnick	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Lynnette Williams	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Brenda Woods	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Tennessee.

Tennessee U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	9	9	0	31	18	4	2	33.3%	3	33.3%
2022	9	9	1	36	18	4	4	44.4%	3	37.5%
2020	9	9	2	45	18	6	2	44.4%	3	42.9%
2018	9	9	2	49	18	6	7	72.2%	5	71.4%
2016	9	9	2	48	18	4	6	55.6%	5	71.4%
2014	9	9	0	39	18	3	8	61.1%	8	88.9%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Tennessee in 2024. Information below was calculated on May 2, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Thirty-one candidates ran for Tennessee’s nine U.S. House districts, including 19 Democrats and 12 Republicans. That’s 3.4 candidates per district, less than in the previous three election cycles. There were 4.0 candidates per district in 2022, 5.0 candidates per district in 2020, and 5.4 in 2018.

The number of candidates who ran for the U.S. House in Tennessee in 2024 is also lower than any other year this decade.

No seats were open in 2024, meaning all incumbents ran for re-election. The last time all incumbents ran for re-election in Tennessee was in 2014.

Six candidates—five Democrats and one Republican—ran for the 8th Congressional District, the most candidates who ran for a seat in Tennessee in 2024.

Six primaries—four Democratic and two Republican—were contested in 2024, the fewest this decade. There were eight contested primaries in 2022, eight in 2020, 13 in 2018, 10 in 2016, and 11 in 2014.

Three incumbents—one Democrat and two Republicans—were in contested primaries in 2024. That’s the same as the previous two election cycles.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all eight districts, meaning no seats were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Tennessee's 8th the 34th most Republican district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Tennessee's 8th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
30.6%	67.9%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district. The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
29.9	68.1	R+38.2

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Tennessee, 2020

Tennessee presidential election results (1900-2020)

• 15 Democratic wins
• 16 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	D	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Tennessee state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Tennessee's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Tennessee
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	1	1
Republican	2	7	9
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	1	1
Total	2	9	11

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Tennessee's top three state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Tennessee, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Bill Lee
Secretary of State	Tre Hargett
Attorney General	Jonathan Skrmetti

State legislature

Tennessee State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	6
	Republican Party	27
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		33

Tennessee House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	24
	Republican Party	75
	Independent	0
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		99

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Tennessee Party Control: 1992-2024
Five years of Democratic trifectas  •  Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	S	S	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Tennessee in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Tennessee, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Tennessee	U.S. House	All candidates	25	N/A	4/4/2024	Source

See also

• Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 1 Republican primary)
• Tennessee's 8th Congressional District election, 2024
• United States House elections in Tennessee, 2024 (August 1 Democratic primaries)
• United States House elections in Tennessee, 2024 (August 1 Republican primaries)
• United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2024
• United States House Republican Party primaries, 2024
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2024
• U.S. House battlegrounds, 2024

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Tennessee's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Marsha Blackburn (R)

Bill Hagerty (R)

Representatives

District 1

Diana Harshbarger (R)

District 2

Tim Burchett (R)

District 3

Charles Fleischmann (R)

District 4

Scott DesJarlais (R)

District 5

Andy Ogles (R)

District 6

John Rose (R)

District 7

Vacant

District 8

David Kustoff (R)

District 9

Steve Cohen (D)

Republican Party (9)

Democratic Party (1)

Vacancies (1)

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