2008 Tennessee elections

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Government

Tennessee state elections in 2008 were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as various judicial retention elections, including elections for two Tennessee Supreme Court justices, were held on August 7, 2008.

Presidential election

President of the United States

Main articles: 2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary, and 2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary

In 2008, Tennessee had 11 electoral votes in the Electoral College at the time. In the general election, Republican candidate John McCain won the state with 56.85% of the vote to Democratic candidate Obama's 41.79%.

The presidential primaries were held on February 5, 2008. Mike Huckabee won Tennessee's Republican primary over Senator John McCain of Arizona. Former first lady Hillary Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama of Illinois in the Tennessee Democratic primary.

Results

United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2008
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	1,479,178	56.85%	11
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	1,087,437	41.79%	0
	Independent	Ralph Nader	Matt Gonzalez	11,560	0.44%	0
	Libertarian	Bob Barr	Wayne Allyn Root	8,547	0.33%	0
	Constitution	Chuck Baldwin	Darrell Castle	8,191	0.31%	0
	Green	Cynthia McKinney	Rosa Clemente	2,499	0.10%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins	Write-ins	2,333	0.09%	0
	Socialist	Brian Moore	Stewart Alexander	1,326	0.05%	0
	Boston Tea	Charles Jay	Thomas Knapp	1,011	0.04%	0
Totals				2,601,982	100.00%	11
Voter turnout (Voting age population)						55.5%

February 5, 2008, Primary Results

2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary

← 2004

February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05)

2016 →


Candidate	Hillary Clinton	Barack Obama
Home state	New York	Illinois
Delegate count	40	28
Popular vote	336,245	254,874
Percentage	53.82%	40.48%

Primary results by county
Clinton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Obama: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

Key:

Withdrew
prior to contest

Democratic Primary Presidential Preference
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	National delegates
Hillary Clinton	336,245	53.82%	40
Barack Obama	254,874	40.48%	28
John Edwards	27,820	4.45%	0
Joe Biden	1,531	0.25%	0
Bill Richardson	1,178	0.19%	0
Dennis Kucinich	971	0.16%	0
Christopher Dodd	526	0.08%	0
Mike Gravel	461	0.07%	0
Uncommitted	3,158	0.51%	0
Totals	624,764	100.00%	68

2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary

← 2004

February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05)

2012 →


Candidate	Mike Huckabee	John McCain	Mitt Romney
Home state	Arkansas	Arizona	Massachusetts
Delegate count	25	19	8
Popular vote	190,904	176,091	130,632
Percentage	34.37%	31.84%	23.62%


Candidate	Ron Paul
Home state	Texas
Delegate count	0
Popular vote	31,026
Percentage	5.61%

County inner

Vote share     Huckabee
     McCain
     Romney

Huckabee 30 – 40% 40 – 50% 50 – 60%

McCain 30 – 40% 40 – 50%

Romney 30 – 40%

**Republican Presidential Primary**
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mike Huckabee	190,904	34.37%	25
John McCain	176,091	31.84%	19
Mitt Romney	130,632	23.62%	8
Ron Paul	31,026	5.61%	0
Fred Thompson*	16,263	2.94%	0
Rudy Giuliani*	5,159	0.93%	0
Alan Keyes	978	0.18%	0
Duncan Hunter*	738	0.13%	0
Tom Tancredo*	194	0.03%	0
Uncommitted	1,830	0.33%	0
Total	553,005	100%	52

* Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary

United States Congress

Senate

Main article: 2008 United States Senate election in Tennessee

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander won re-election to a second term, with 65.1% of the vote against Democrat Bob Tuke, who won just 32.6%.

Results

United States Senate election in Tennessee, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lamar Alexander (Incumbent)	1,579,477	65.14%	+10.87%
	Democratic	Bob Tuke	767,236	31.64%	−12.69%
	Independent	Edward L. Buck	31,631	1.30%	N/A
	Independent	Christopher G. Fenner	11,073	0.46%	N/A
	Independent	Daniel Towers Lewis	9,367	0.39%	N/A
	Independent	Chris Lugo	9,170	0.38%	N/A
	Independent	Ed Lawhorn	8,986	0.37%	N/A
	Independent	David Gatchell	7,645	0.32%	N/A
Majority			812,241	33.50%	+23.56%
Turnout			2,424,585	66.34%
	Republican hold		Swing

August 7, 2008, Primary Results

Democratic Party primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Tuke	59,050	32.21%
	Democratic	Gary G. Davis	39,119	21.34%
	Democratic	Mike Padgett	33,471	18.26%
	Democratic	Mark E. Clayton	32,309	17.62%
	Democratic	Kenneth Eaton	14,702	8.02%
	Democratic	Leonard D. Ladner	4,697	2.55%
Total votes			183,348	100.00%

Republican Party primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lamar Alexander (Incumbent)	244,222	100.00%
Total votes			244,222	100.00%

House of Representatives

Main article: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

Tennessee elected nine U.S. representatives, each representing one of Tennessee's nine congressional districts.

Results

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee 1	David Davis	Republican	2006	Incumbent lost renomination. New member elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Phil Roe (Republican) 71.8% ▌Rob Russell (Democratic) 24.5% ▌Joel Goodman (Independent) 1.7% ▌James Reeves (Independent) 1.1% ▌Thomas Owens (Independent) 0.8%
Tennessee 2	Jimmy Duncan	Republican	1998	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jimmy Duncan (Republican) 78.1% ▌Bob Scott (Democratic) 21.9%
Tennessee 3	Zach Wamp	Republican	1994	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Zach Wamp (Republican) 69.4% ▌Doug Vandagriff (Democratic) 27.4% ▌Jean Howard-Hill (Independent) 1.8% ▌Ed Choate (Independent) 1.4%
Tennessee 4	Lincoln Davis	Democratic	2002	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Lincoln Davis (Democratic) 58.8% ▌Monty Lankford (Republican) 37.8% ▌James Anthony Gray (Independent) 1.9% ▌Kevin Ragsdale (Independent) 1.5%
Tennessee 5	Jim Cooper	Democratic	1982 1994 (retired) 2002	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jim Cooper (Democratic) 65.9% ▌Gerard Donovan (Republican) 31.0% ▌Jon Jackson (Independent) 2.0% ▌John Miglietta (Green) 1.2%
Tennessee 6	Bart Gordon	Democratic	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bart Gordon (Democratic) 74.4% ▌Chris Baker (Independent) 25.6%
Tennessee 7	Marsha Blackburn	Republican	2002	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Marsha Blackburn (Republican) 68.6% ▌Randy Morris (Democratic) 31.4%
Tennessee 8	John Tanner	Democratic	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Tanner (Democratic) Uncontested
Tennessee 9	Steve Cohen	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Steve Cohen (Democratic) 87.9% ▌Jake Ford (Independent) 4.9% ▌Dewey Clark (Independent) 4.4% ▌Mary Wright (Independent) 2.8%

Popular vote

Democratic			51.94%
Republican			42.47%
Other			5.59%

House seats

Democratic			55.56%
Republican			44.44%

State legislature

State Senate

Main article: 2008 Tennessee Senate election See also: Tennessee General Assembly

Results by senate districts

Winners:

Republican hold Democratic hold Republican gain No election

Elections for 16 of the 33 seats in Tennessee's State Senate were held on November 4, 2008.

After this election, Republicans had 19 seats while Democrats had 14 seats, with Republicans gaining three seats, fully flipping the senate.

State House of Representatives

Main article: 2008 Tennessee House of Representatives election

Results by State House districts

Winners:

Republican hold Democratic hold Republican gain Democratic gain

The election of all 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives occurred on November 4, 2008.

Republicans won 50 seats, while Democrats won 49 seats. Republicans gained four seats, flipping the house during this election.

Supreme Court

Retention elections (August 7, 2008)

All incumbent Tennessee Supreme Court Justices won their retention elections, getting eight more years.

Tennessee Supreme Court Associate Justice, William C. Koch Jr. retention election
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	295,754	76.15
No	92,632	23.85
Total votes	388,386	100.00

Tennessee Supreme Court Associate Justice, Gary R. Wade retention election
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	296,645	77.08
No	88,193	22.92
Total votes	384,838	100.00

References

"Official General Election Results". The Green Papers. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
"Democratic Primary Presidential Preference" (PDF). Tennessee Department of State. February 5, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
"Republican Primary Presidential Preference" (PDF).
"RESULTS: Tennessee". CNN. February 5, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
"Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ State of Tennessee General Election Results, August 7, 2008, Results By Office (Report). Secretary of State of Tennessee. Retrieved January 17, 2023.

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