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United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2016
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August 4, 2016 |
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The 2016 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Tennessee took place on November 8, 2016. Voters elected nine candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts.
| 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.[1]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 8 election, the Republican Party held seven of the nine congressional seats from Tennessee.
| Members of the U.S. House from Tennessee -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2016 | After the 2016 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 2 | 2 | |
| Republican Party | 7 | 7 | |
| Total | 9 | 9 | |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2016 election, the incumbents for the nine congressional districts were:
Margin of victory for winners
The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the two candidates who received the most votes. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100 percent.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 |  Phil Roe |
62.9% | 253,025 | Alan Bohms |
| District 2 | John Duncan, Jr. |
51.3% | 280,856 | Stuart Starr |
| District 3 | Charles Fleischmann |
37.6% | 266,006 | Melody Shekari |
| District 4 | Scott DesJarlais |
30.1% | 254,937 | Steven Reynolds |
| District 5 |  Jim Cooper |
25.1% | 273,544 | Stacy Ries Snyder |
| District 6 | Diane Black |
49.3% | 284,490 | David Kent |
| District 7 | Marsha Blackburn |
48.7% | 277,513 | Tharon Chandler |
| District 8 | David Kustoff |
43.7% | 282,733 | Rickey Hobson |
| District 9 | Steve Cohen |
59.9% | 217,957 | Wayne Alberson |
Candidates
| Candidate ballot access |
|---|
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District 1
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General election candidates: Phil Roe  Alan Bohms Robert Franklin |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic |
Republican Clint Tribble[3] |
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Third Party/Other |
District 2
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General election candidates: John Duncan, Jr. Stuart Starr |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic |
Republican |
District 3
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General election candidates: Charles Fleischmann Melody Shekari Topher Kersting Cassandra Mitchell Rick Tyler |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic George Ryan Love[3] Melody Shekari[3] |
Republican Allan Levene[3] Geoffery Suhmer Smith[4][3] |
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Third Party/Other Cassandra Mitchell (Independent)[3] Rick Tyler (Independent)[3] |
District 4
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General election candidates: Scott DesJarlais Steven Reynolds |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic |
Republican Yomi Faparusi[3] Erran Persley[3] Grant Starrett - Attorney[5] |
District 5
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General election candidates: Jim Cooper Stacy Ries Snyder |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic |
Republican John Smith[3] Stacy Ries Snyder[3] |
|
Withdrew: Ronnie Holden (R)[3] |
District 6
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General election candidates: Diane Black David Kent David Ross |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic Flo Matheson[3] |
Republican Joe Carr[3] Tommy Hay[3] Donald Strong[3] |
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Third Party/Other |
District 7
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General election candidates: Marsha Blackburn Tharon Chandler Leonard Ladner |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic |
Republican |
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Third Party/Other |
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Withdrew: Travis Page (Independent)[3] |
District 8
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General election candidates: David Kustoff Rickey Hobson Shelia Godwin James Hart Adrian Montague Mark Rawles Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic Rickey Hobson[3] |
Republican Hunter Baker[7] David Bault - Inspector for Terminix[8] George Flinn Jr., M.D.[9] Brad Greer[10] Raymond Honeycutt[3] George Howell[3] Brian Kelsey - State Senator[11] David Kustoff - Former U.S. Attorney[12] Tom Leatherwood - Shelby County Register of Deeds[12] Mark Luttrell[13] David Maldonado[14] David Wharton[3] |
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Third Party/Other James Hart (Independent)[3] Adrian Montague (Independent)[3] Mark Rawles (Independent)[3] Karen Free Spirit Talley-Lane (Independent)[3] |
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Not running: |
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Withdrew: Steve Basar (R) - Shelby County Commissioner[12][15] James Coffman (D)[3] Erika Stotts Pearson (D)[3] |
District 9
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General election candidates: Steve Cohen Wayne Alberson Paul Cook |
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Primary candidates:[2] |
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Democratic Larry Crim[3] Justin Ford[3] LaTroy Williams[3] |
Republican |
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Third Party/Other |
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Withdrew: Palmer Lee Harris (R)[3] Ernest Lunati (R)[3] |
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, 2016
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2016
- List of U.S. Congress incumbents who did not run for re-election in 2016
- U.S. House primaries, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ LexisNexis, "Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-7-115," accessed July 16, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 3.33 3.34 3.35 3.36 3.37 3.38 3.39 3.40 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.46 3.47 3.48 3.49 3.50 3.51 3.52 3.53 3.54 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Petitions Filed as of April 7, 2016 Noon Qualifying Deadline," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Elect Smith for Congress," accessed April 3, 2016
- ↑ Times Free Press, "Grant Starrett launches challenge to Scott DesJarlais in 4th District," April 2, 2015
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Tennessean, "Rep. Fincher won't seek re-election; Kelsey to run," February 1, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 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
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
