2008 United States Senate election in Tennessee
November 4, 2008
Turnout66.34% Increase[1] 15.94 pp
 
Nominee Lamar Alexander Bob Tuke
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,571,637 767,236
Percentage 65.14% 31.64%
Alexander:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%     80–90%      >90%
Tuke:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      50%
U.S. senator before election

Lamar Alexander
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

Lamar Alexander
Republican

The 2008 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 4, 2008, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate from the State of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander won re-election to a second term.

Alexander flipped reliably Democratic Davidson County, home to Nashville which has not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1988. With that, he also won 65.1% of the vote against Democrat Bob Tuke, who won just 32.6%. Alexander also won 28% of the African American vote.[2]

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican Party primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lamar Alexander (Incumbent) 244,222 100.00%
Total votes 244,222 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Mike Padgett finished third after Gary Davis, who did not campaign and used no money. Many were surprised at the results. They claimed that perhaps there was name confusion, with two incumbent congressmen David Davis and Lincoln Davis.[4]

Results

Democratic Party primary results[5]
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%

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

In Tennessee, a candidate seeking a House or Senate seat at the state or national level must gather 25 signatures from registered voters to be put on the ballot for any elected office.[6][7][8][9] Presidential candidates seeking to represent an officially recognized party must either be named as candidates by the Tennessee Secretary of State or gather 2,500 signatures from registered voters, and an independent candidate for President must gather 275 signatures and put forward a full slate of eleven candidates who have agreed to serve as electors.[10] In order to be recognized as a party and have its candidates listed on the ballot under that party's name, a political party must gather signatures equal to or in excess of 2.5% of the total number of votes cast in the last election (about 45,000 signatures based on the election held in 2006).[11] The last third party to be officially recognized was the American Party in 1968; none of its candidates received five percent of the statewide vote in 1970 and it was then subject to desertification as an official party.. Due to these hurdles third party candidates almost always appear on the ballot as independents.

  • Edward Buck (I)
  • Christopher Fenner (I)
  • David "None of the Above" Gatchell (I)
  • Bo Heyward (I)
  • Ed Lawhorn (I)
  • Daniel T. Lewis (L)[12]
  • Chris Lugo (I), Green party peace activist

Campaign

On April 3, 2007, Alexander confirmed that he would seek re-election to the Senate in 2008. Alexander has remained a popular figure in Tennessee since his first term as governor and faced no opposition in the Republican primary[13] Tuke is a former Marine who served in the Vietnam War. Tuke served as Barack Obama's Presidential campaign chair in Tennessee. Tuke declared himself to be a candidate March 3, 2008, and he secured the help of several high profile Democratic campaigners including Joe Trippi. There were many minor candidates in the race. Chris Lugo announced on January 17 that he was seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party as a 'Progressive Democrat.' In March 2008, Lugo announced he was dropping his candidacy for the Democratic nomination, and would run either for the Green Party nomination or as an independent.[14]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[15] Safe R October 23, 2008
CQ Politics[16] Likely R October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report[17] Safe R November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics[18] Safe R November 4, 2008

Polling

Source Date Alexander (R) Tuke (D)
Ayres, McHenry & Associates (R) March 11, 2008 59% 28%
Rasmussen Report April 8, 2008 59% 30%
MTSU Poll September 29, 2008 50% 26%
Rasmussen Reports September 29, 2008 56% 32%
Rasmussen Reports October 16, 2008 62% 34%

Results

United States Senate election in Tennessee, 2008[19]
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

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2008". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 4, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ Dade, Corey (November 22, 2008). "Tennessee Resists Obama Wave". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  3. ↑ "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)
  4. ↑ Cagle, Frank (August 13, 2008). "Last week's county election puts the Republican machine back in power". Knoxville Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ "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)
  6. ↑ "Qualifying Procedures for Candidates for United States Senator", Tennessee Division of Elections (accessed November 3, 2008).
  7. ↑ "Qualifying Procedures for Tennessee Candidates for United States House of Representatives", Tennessee Division of Elections (accessed November 3, 2008).
  8. ↑ "Qualifying Procedures for Candidates for Tennessee State Senator", Tennessee Division of Elections (accessed November 3, 2008).
  9. ↑ "Qualifying Procedures for Candidates for Tennessee House of Representatives", Tennessee Division of Elections (accessed November 3, 2008).
  10. ↑ "Tennessee Ballot Access Procedures for Candidates for U.S. President", Tennessee Division of Elections (accessed November 3, 2008).
  11. ↑ "Against all odds, third-party candidates fight on", The Tennessean (accessed November 3, 2008).
  12. ↑ United States Senate Candidate List From Tennessee http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/cand/USSenateList.pdf
  13. ↑ "4/3/2007 - Alexander Running Again, Sets Fundraiser - Breaking News - Chattanoogan.com". Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
  14. ↑ Nathan Frick (March 21, 2008). "Democratic Senate Field Narrowed". News Channel 9. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  15. ↑ "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  16. ↑ Race Ratings Chart: Senate Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics
  17. ↑ "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  18. ↑ "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
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