Tennessee held its general election on November 8, 2016, deciding 115 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Republicans netted one House seat for a 74-25 majority, and the Senate stayed 28-5. The bigger change came in leadership. In January, Randy McNally (R) was sworn in as Senate speaker and lieutenant governor, succeeding Ron Ramsey (R), who did not seek re-election. Beth Harwell (R) won a fourth term as House speaker with all 99 votes, after winning a 40-30 caucus fight for the nomination.
- Three House seats changed party, one toward Democrats and two toward Republicans:
- Eddie Smith (R) held Knoxville's House District 13 by 151 votes over Gloria Johnson (D), the former representative he had unseated by 182 votes in 2014. Bo Mitchell (D) kept House District 50 by about 5 points. In Franklin's House District 65, Sam Whitson (R), who had beaten Rep. Jeremy Durham (R) in the August primary, won the seat after the House expelled Durham 70-2 in September over an attorney general's investigative report. Of the 115 legislative races, 44 had only one candidate on the ballot.
Legislature
- House (99 seats): 26 D, 73 R before the election, 25 D, 74 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (33 seats): 5 D, 28 R before the election, 5 D, 28 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Legislative races
| Race | Winner | Others | Notes |
|---|
| House 1 | John Crawford (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 2 | Bud Hulsey (R) 80.45% | J. S. Moore (D) 19.55% | |
| House 3 | Timothy Hill (R) | Gary Kawula (I) | |
| House 4 | John B. Holsclaw, Jr. (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 5 | David Hawk (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 6 | Micah Van Huss (R) | John Baker (D) | |
| House 7 | Matt Hill (R) | Nancy Fischman (D) | |
| House 8 | Art Swann (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 9 | Gary Hicks (R) | John Neubert (I) | |
| House 10 | Tilman Goins (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 11 | Jeremy Faison (R) 77.79% | Marjorie Ramsey (D) 22.21% | |
| House 12 | Dale Carr (R) 98.42% | John R. Huff Sr. (write-in) 1.58% | |
| House 13 | Ed Smith (R) 50.34% | Gloria Johnson (D) 49.66% | |
| House 14 | Jason Zachary (R) 72.91% | Scott Hacker (D) 27.09% | |
| House 15 | Rick Staples (D) 62.76% | Pete Drew (I) 33.73%, Rhonda Lynnese Gallman (write-in) 3.51% | |
| House 16 | Bill Dunn (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 17 | Andrew Farmer (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 18 | Martin Daniel (R) 59.18% | Brandi Price (D) 40.82% | |
| House 19 | Harry Brooks (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 20 | Robert Ramsey (R) 80.36% | Sam Duck (I) 19.64% | |
| House 21 | Jimmy Matlock (R) 76.82% | Pamela O. Weston (D) 19.84%, William James Vandever (I) 3.34% | |
| House 22 | Dan Howell (R) 81.73% | Anna Miller Grabowski (D) 18.27% | |
| House 23 | John W. Forgety (R) 85.7% | Daniel Lee Housley (I) 14.3% | |
| House 24 | Kevin Brooks (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 25 | Cameron Sexton (R) | Judy Barnett (D) | |
| House 26 | Gerald McCormick (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 27 | Patsy Hazlewood (R) | Steve Gordon (D) | |
| House 28 | JoAnne Favors (D) | Andrew Newman (write-in) | |
| House 29 | Michael Carter (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 30 | Marc Gravitt (R) | Katie R. Cowley (D), Patrick Hickey (I) | |
| House 31 | Ron Travis (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 32 | Kent Calfee (R) | Tyler Overstreet (I), Corey B. Stafford (D) | |
| House 33 | John Ragan (R) | Michael S McKamey (D) | |
| House 34 | Tim Rudd (R) | Laura Bohling (D) | |
| House 35 | Jerry Sexton (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 36 | Dennis Powers (R) | Bob Fannon (D) | |
| House 37 | Dawn White (R) | Becky Goff (D) | |
| House 38 | Kelly Keisling (R) | F. Mike Campbell (D) | |
| House 39 | David Alexander (R) | Nancy Silvertooth (D) | |
| House 40 | Terri Lynn Weaver (R) | Gayla Colvert Hendrix (D) | |
| House 41 | John Mark Windle (D) | Ed Butler (R) | |
| House 42 | Ryan Williams (R) | Amos Scott Powers (D) | |
| House 43 | Paul Sherrell (R) | Kevin Dunlap (D) | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| House 44 | William Lamberth (R) | Lloyd Dunn (D) | |
| House 45 | Courtney Rogers (R) | Sibyl Reagan (write-in) | |
| House 46 | Mark Pody (R) | Amelia Morrison Hipps (D) | |
| House 47 | Judd Matheny (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 48 | Bryan Terry (R) | Justin T. Miller (D) | |
| House 49 | Mike Sparks (R) | Brandon Thomas (D) | |
| House 50 | Bo Mitchell (D) | Nathan Massey (R) | |
| House 51 | Bill Beck (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 52 | Mike Stewart (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 53 | Jason Powell (D) | Davette Blalock (R), Amberlee Brooks (write-in) | |
| House 54 | Brenda Gilmore (D) | Robert Sawyers Sr. (I) | |
| House 55 | John Clemmons (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 56 | Beth Harwell (R) | Chris Moth (D) | |
| House 57 | Susan Lynn (R) | Trisha Farmer (D) | |
| House 58 | Harold Love (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 59 | Sherry Jones (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 60 | Darren Jernigan (D) | Steve Glover (R) | |
| House 61 | Charles M. Sargent, Jr. (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 62 | Pat Marsh (R) | Sharon Kay Edwards (D) | |
| House 63 | Glen Casada (R) | Courtenay Rogers (D) | |
| House 64 | Sheila Butt (R) | James Gray (I) | |
| House 65 | Sam Whitson (R) | Holly McCall (D) | |
| House 66 | Sabi Kumar (R) | Larry Proffitt (D) | |
| House 67 | Joe Pitts (D) | Mike Warner (I) | |
| House 68 | Curtis Johnson (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 69 | Michael Curcio (R) | Dustin Evans (D) | Flipped D to R |
| House 70 | Barry Doss (R) | Calvin Moore (D), Roy Waldrop (I) | |
| House 71 | David Byrd (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 72 | Steve McDaniel (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 73 | Jamie Eldridge (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 74 | Jay Reedy (R) | Andy Porch (D) | |
| House 75 | Tim Wirgau (R) | Daniel Powell (D), James Hart (I) | |
| House 76 | Andrew Holt (R) | Angela Callis (D), Bennie Castleman (I) | |
| House 77 | Bill Sanderson (R) | Tom Reasons (I) | |
| House 78 | Mary Littleton (R) | Travis S. Staten (D) | |
| House 79 | Curtis Halford (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 80 | Johnny Shaw (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 81 | Debra Moody (R) | Deborah K. Reed (D) | |
| House 82 | Craig Fitzhugh (D) | Andy Cole (R) | |
| House 83 | Mark White (R) | Lawrence A. Pivnick (D) | |
| House 84 | Joe Towns, Jr. (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 85 | Johnnie R. Turner (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 86 | Barbara Cooper (D) | George T Edwards III (R) | |
| House 87 | Karen Camper (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 88 | Larry Miller (D) | Orrden W. Williams (I) | |
| House 89 | Roger Kane (R) | Heather C. Hensley (D) | |
| House 90 | John J. DeBerry, Jr. (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 91 | Raumesh Akbari (D) | Samuel A. Arthur Watkins (R) | |
| House 92 | Thom Tillis (R) | Tamra King (D) | |
| House 93 | G.A. Hardaway (D) | William King (I) | |
| House 94 | Ron Gant (R) | Daniel M. Harris (D) | |
| House 95 | Mark Lovell (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 96 | Dwayne Thompson (D) | Steve McManus (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 97 | Jim Coley (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 98 | Antonio Parkinson (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 99 | Ron Lollar (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 2 | Doug Overbey (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 4 | Jon Lundberg (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 6 | Becky Massey (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 8 | Frank Niceley (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 10 | Todd Gardenhire (R) | Khristy Wilkinson (D) | |
| Senate 12 | Ken Yager (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 14 | Jim Tracy (R) | Gayle Jordan (D) | |
| Senate 16 | Janice Bowling (R) | Mike Winton (D) | |
| Senate 18 | Ferrell Haile (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 20 | Steven Dickerson (R) | Erin Coleman (D), Joseph H. Johnston (write-in) | |
| Senate 22 | Mark E. Green (R) | David Cutting (D) | |
| Senate 24 | John Stevens (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 26 | Dolores Gresham (R) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 28 | Joey Hensley (R) | Joey Norman (I) | |
| Senate 30 | Sara Kyle (D) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 32 | Mark Norris (R) | Unopposed | |