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Tennessee State Senate elections, 2026

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2026 Tennessee Senate Election
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Election info

Seats up: 17
Primary: Pending
General: November 3, 2026

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Elections for the Tennessee State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The Tennessee State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas
Party As of September 2025
     Democratic Party 6
     Republican Party 27
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 33

Candidates

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Primary

General election

Tennessee State Senate general election 2026
  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
  • Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

J. Adam Lowe (i)

District 3

Rusty Crowe (i)

District 5

Randy McNally (i)

District 7

Richard Briggs (i)

District 9

Steve Southerland (i)

District 11

Bo Watson (i)

District 13

Dawn White (i)

District 15

Paul Bailey (i)

District 17

Mark Pody (i)
Butch Baker

District 19

Charlane Oliver (i)

District 21

Jeff Yarbro (i)

District 23

Kerry Roberts (i)

District 25

Ed Jackson (i)

District 27

Jack Johnson (i)
Gary Humble

District 29

Raumesh Akbari (i)

District 31

Brent Taylor (i)

District 33

London Lamar (i)

Voting information

See also: Voting in Tennessee

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.


Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Tennessee. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Tennessee

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 2-5 and Chapter 2-7 of the Tennessee Code

State legislative candidates

A candidate running for the state legislature, whether partisan or independent, must adhere to the same ballot access requirements, which are detailed below.

  1. The candidate must obtain a nominating petition from a county election commission office or the office of the state coordinator of elections.[1][2]
  2. The nominating petition must be signed by the candidate and at least 25 voters who are registered in the candidate's district.[1][2]
  3. The signer of a petition must include the address shown on his or her voter registration card in order for his or her signature to be counted.[2]
  4. The candidate must file the original nominating petition in the office of the county election commission by the first Thursday of April in his or her county of residence. The candidate must also file a certified duplicate in the county election commission office in each county wholly or partially within the candidate's district. This requirement applies to both political party candidates running in the primary and independent candidates running in the general election.[1][2]
  5. There are no filing fees.

Federal and statewide office

A partisan or independent candidate for governor, United States Representative, or United States Senator must obtain a nominating petition from a county election commission office or the office of the state coordinator of elections.[3][4]

  1. The nominating petition must be signed by at least 25 voters who are registered anywhere in Tennessee.[3][5]
  2. The signer of a petition must include the address shown on his or her voter registration card in order for the signature to be counted.[2]
  3. The candidate must file the nominating petition no later than noon on the first Thursday of April.[3][5]
  4. The candidate must file the original nominating petition in the office of the Tennessee State Election Commission. The candidate must also file a certified duplicate in the office of the state coordinator of elections. Both of these must be received by the qualifying deadline.[3][5]
  5. There are no filing fees.

For write-in candidates

In order to have his or her votes tallied, a write-in candidate must file a certificate of write-in candidacy no later than noon on the 50th day before the general election in each county that makes up the district of the listed office. For the offices of governor, United States Senator, and United States Representative, this form must be filed with the Tennessee Coordinator of Elections.[6][7]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the Tennessee State Senate, a candidate must be:[8]

  • A U.S. citizen
  • 30 years old before the general election
  • A three-year resident of Tennessee before the general election
  • A district resident for 1 year prior to the general election
  • A qualified voter
  • The following situations would eliminate a candidate from qualifying for office:
    • Those who have been convicted of offering or giving a bribe, or of larceny, or any other offense declared infamous by law, unless restored to citizenship in the mode pointed out by law;
    • Those against whom there is a judgment unpaid for any moneys received by them, in any official capacity, due to the United States, to this state, or any county thereof;
    • Those who are defaulters to the treasury at the time of the election, and the election of any such person shall be void;
    • Soldiers, seamen, marines, or airmen in the regular army or navy or air force of the United States; and
    • Members of congress, and persons holding any office of profit or trust under any foreign power, other state of the union, or under the United States.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[9]
SalaryPer diem
$28,405.96/year$326.47/day. Legislators living within 50 miles of the Capitol receive a reduced amount of $47 per day.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Tennessee legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.[10]

Tennessee political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

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 25
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 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 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 R

Presidential politics in Tennessee

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024


Presidential election in Tennessee, 2024
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R)
 
64.2
 
1,966,865 11
Image of
Image of
Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D)
 
34.5
 
1,056,265 0
Image of
Image of
Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Nicole Shanahan (Independent)
 
0.7
 
21,535 0
Image of
Image of
Jill Stein/Samson LeBeau Kpadenou (Independent)
 
0.3
 
8,967 0
Image of
Image of
Jay Bowman/De Bowman (Independent)
 
0.2
 
5,865 0
Image of
Image of
Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Independent)
 
0.1
 
3,457 0
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Image of
Rachele Fruit/Dennis Richter (Independent)
 
0.0
 
988 0

There were no incumbents in this race The results have been certified.

Total votes: 3,063,942


2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020


Presidential election in Tennessee, 2020
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R)
 
60.7
 
1,852,475 11
Image of
Image of
Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)
 
37.5
 
1,143,711 0
Image of
Image of
Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (Independent)
 
1.0
 
29,877 0
Image of
Image of
Ye/Michelle Tidball (Independent)
 
0.3
 
10,279 0
Image of
Image of
Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Independent)
 
0.2
 
5,365 0
Image of
Image of
Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (Independent)
 
0.1
 
4,545 0
Image of
Image of
Alyson Kennedy/Malcolm Jarrett (Independent)
 
0.1
 
2,576 0
Image of
Image of
Gloria La Riva/Sunil Freeman (Independent)
 
0.1
 
2,301 0
Image of
Image of
Roque De La Fuente/Darcy Richardson (Independent)
 
0.1
 
1,860 0
  Other write-in votes
 
0.0
 
862 0

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 3,053,851


2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016
U.S. presidential election, Tennessee, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes
     Democratic Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 34.7% 870,695 0
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngDonald Trump/Mike Pence 60.7% 1,522,925 11
     Libertarian Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 2.8% 70,397 0
     Green Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka 0.6% 15,993 0
     Independent Rocky De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg 0.2% 4,075 0
     Independent Alyson Kennedy/Osborne Hart 0.1% 2,877 0
     Independent Mike Smith/Daniel White 0.3% 7,276 0
     - Write-in votes 0.5% 13,789 0
Total Votes 2,508,027 11
Election results via: Tennessee Secretary of State


Tennessee presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 15 Democratic wins
  • 17 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 2024
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 R


Redistricting following the 2020 census

On November 22, 2023, the Davidson County Chancery Court struck down the state Senate map, declaring it unconstitutional. The court ordered the state to create a new state Senate map by January 31, 2024.[11] On April 13, 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the Davidson County Chancery Court on April 6, blocking the same state Senate map. Gov. Lee signed the state's legislative districts into law on February 6, 2022.[12]


See also

Tennessee State Legislative Elections News and Analysis
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Tennessee State Executive Offices
Tennessee State Legislature
Tennessee Courts
State legislative elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Tennessee elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015
Primary elections in Tennessee
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
Partisan composition of state legislatures
Partisan composition of state senates
Partisan composition of state houses

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tennessee Department of Elections, "Qualifying Procedures for Candidates for Tennessee House of Representatives," accessed April 29, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tennessee Code, "Chapter 2-5-101," accessed April 29, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Tennessee Department of Elections, "Qualifying Procedures for Candidates for Governor," accessed April 29, 2025
  4. ↑ Tennessee Code, "Chapter 2-5-103," accessed April 29, 2025
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Qualifying Procedures for United States Senate Tennessee Candidates for United States Senate," accessed April 29, 2025
  6. ↑ Tennessee Department of Elections, "Write-In Candidacy Form," accessed April 29, 2025
  7. ↑ Tennessee Code, "Chapter 2-7-133," accessed April 29, 2025
  8. ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Qualifications for elected offices in Tennessee," accessed December 18, 2013
  9. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  10. ↑ Tennessee Constitution, "Article II, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021
  11. ↑ The Tennessean, "Judges rule Tennessee Senate map unconstitutional, order legislature to redraw by Jan. 31," November 22, 2023
  12. ↑ The Tennessean, "Gov. Bill Lee signs redistricting bills dividing Davidson County into three congressional districts," February 7, 2022


Current members of the Tennessee State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Randy McNally
Minority Leader:Raumesh Akbari
Senators
District 1
J. Lowe (R)
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Bo Watson (R)
District 12
Ken Yager (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Mark Pody (R)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
Sara Kyle (D)
District 31
District 32
Paul Rose (R)
District 33
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (6)


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