# 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election

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vte :
The 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Haslam was term-limited, and is prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. Republican candidate Bill Lee was elected with 59.6% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee and former Nashville mayor Karl Dean in a landslide. Despite Lee’s win, this was the closest win for a Republican since 1994.
The primary elections took place on August 2, 2018, with Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean winning their respective party nominations.
During the general election, Dean flipped back reliably Democratic Davidson, Haywood, and Shelby Counties, which voted for Republican governor Bill Haslam in 2014.
The results of the election marked the first time since 1982 that a candidate from the incumbent president's party was elected governor of Tennessee. This is also the first time that Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state, and the first time that a Republican was elected to succeed another Republican.
As of 2018, this election had the largest number of candidates (28) in a statewide election in United States history; the previous record was the 2016 United States presidential election in Colorado. This large surge in candidates was mostly due to the Libertarian Party of Tennessee's protest of the state's party affiliation and ballot access laws.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Bill Lee, businessman

#### Eliminated in primary

* Diane Black, U.S. representative
* Randy Boyd, former Tennessee cabinet official
* Beth Harwell, Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives
* Basil Marceaux, perennial candidate
* Kay White, realtor and Democratic nominee for Tennessee's 1st congressional district in 1996 and 1998

#### Withdrawn

* Mae Beavers, former state senator (unsuccessfully ran for Wilson County mayor)
* Mark Green, state senator (successfully ran in Tennessee's 7th congressional district)

#### Declined

* Marsha Blackburn, U.S. representative (successfully ran for the U.S. Senate)
* Tim Burchett, mayor of Knox County (successfully ran in Tennessee's 2nd congressional district)
* Joe Carr, former state representative, perennial candidate
* Bob Corker, U.S. senator
* Stephen Fincher, former U.S. representative
* Alberto Gonzales, dean of the Belmont University School of Law and former U.S. Attorney General
* Bill Hagerty, United States Ambassador to Japan and former Tennessee cabinet official
* Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of State
* Rob Mitchell, Rutherford County, Rutherford County Property Assessor
* Mark Norris, Majority Leader of the Tennessee Senate, appointed as judge to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
* Andy Ogles, director of Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity (successfully ran for mayor of Maury County)
* Ron Ramsey, former lieutenant governor of Tennessee and candidate for governor of Tennessee in 2010

### Endorsements
#### Individuals

* Harry Brooks, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Education Administration and Planning Committee chair
* Dale Carr, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Local Government Subcommittee chair
* Mike Carter, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Civil Justice Subcommittee chair
* Jim Coley, Tennessee House of Representatives
* Jeremy Faison, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Government Operations Committee chair
* Andrew Farmer, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Civil Justice Committee chair
* John Forgety, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Education Instruction and Programs Committee chair
* Patsy Hazlewood, Tennessee House of Representatives
* Gary Hicks, Tennessee House of Representatives
* John Holsclaw Jr., Tennessee House of Representatives, House Business and Utilities Subcommittee chair
* Dan Howell, Tennessee House of Representatives, Joint Judiciary and Government Committee chair, House Local Government Committee vice chair
* Curtis Johnson, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Speaker Pro Tempore
* Pat Marsh, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Business and Utilities Committee chair
* Steve McDaniel, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Rules Committee chair, House Ethics Committee chair, House Finance, Ways, and Means Study Subcommittee chair
* Frank Niceley, Tennessee State Senate, Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources 1st vice chair, Senate Transportation and Safety Committee 2nd vice chair
* Tim Rudd, Tennessee House of Representatives
* Charles Sargent, Tennessee House of Representatives, Finance, Ways, and Means Committee chair
* Mike Sparks, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Calendar and Rules Committee vice chair
* Rick Tillis, Tennessee House of Representatives
* Tim Wirgau, Tennessee House of Representatives, House Local Government Committee chair

#### Organizations

* Tennessee Education Association
* Tennessee Professional Fire Fighters Association
* Tennessee State Employees Association

#### Individuals

* Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States
* Stephen Fincher, former U.S. representative
* Ron Ramsey, former lieutenant governor of Tennessee
* Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania
* Steve Scalise, U.S. representative and House Majority Whip (R-LA)
* Jordan Sekulow, radio talk show host and executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice
* Carol M. Swain, former Vanderbilt professor and conservative commentator

#### Organizations

* American Conservative Union
* Family Research Council
* National Right to Life
* NRA Political Victory Fund
* Students For Trump
* Susan B. Anthony List

#### Individuals

* Jake Bynum, mayor of Weakley County
* Mike Creasy, mayor of Decatur County
* J. Michael Cross, Fentress County executive
* Richard Daniel, Pickett County executive
* Ben Danner, Overton County executive
* Jim Durrett, mayor of Montgomery County
* Brent Greer, mayor of Henry County
* Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate in 2008 and 2016
* Denny Johnson, mayor of Lake County
* Shaun Lawson, mayor of Hickman County
* Joe Boyd Liggett, mayor of Marshall County
* Mark Luttrell, mayor of Shelby County
* Kenny McBride, mayor of Carroll County
* Benny McGuire, mayor of Obion County
* Bill Newman, mayor of Lincoln County
* Denny Robinson, White County executive
* Richard Stewart, mayor of Franklin County
* Sloan Stewart, Lynchburg/Moore County Metro executive
* Skip Taylor, mayor of Fayette County
* Jessie Wallace, Humphreys County executive
* Bill Webb, mayor of Lewis County
* T.R. Williams, Lawrence County executive
* Tom Witherspoon, mayor of Gibson County
* Chris Young, mayor of Dyer County

#### U.S. representatives

* Zach Wamp, former U.S. representative (R-TN)

#### State-level officials

* Mae Beavers, former state senator, former gubernatorial candidate
* Sheila Butt, state representative
* Joe Carr, former state representative
* Andy Holt, state representative
* Jason Zachary, state representative

#### Individuals

* Steven Curtis Chapman, Christian singer
* Mike Fisher, former center for the Nashville Predators and husband of singer Carrie Underwood
* Scott Hamilton, figure skater and Olympic gold medalist
* Ricky Skaggs, country music singer
* Michael W. Smith, Christian singer
* Darrell Waltrip, motorsports analyst and former NASCAR driver

#### Newspapers

* Chattanooga Free Press
* Dunlap News
* Johnson City Press

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Diane Black | Randy Boyd | Beth Harwell | Bill Lee | Other | Undecided |
| JMC Analytics | July 18–21, 2018 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 19% | 20% | 16% | 26% | 1% | 17% |
| Emerson College | July 11–14, 2018 | 266 | ± 6.4% | 27% | 22% | 14% | 19% | 3% | 14% |
| Data Orbital | June 27–30, 2018 | 700 | ± 3.7% | 24% | 23% | 10% | 19% | – | 24% |
| Triton Polling & Research (R) | June 25–28, 2018 | 1,040 | ± 3.1% | 27% | 33% | 7% | 20% | – | 13% |
| OnMessage Inc. (R-Black) | May 14–17, 2018 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 41% | 28% | 8% | 9% | – | 15% |
| Grassroots Targeting (R-Black) | May 4–6, 2018 | 800 | – | 41% | 26% | 6% | 11% | – | 15% |
| OnMessage Inc. (R-Black) | April 2018 | – | – | 33% | 30% | 5% | 13% | – | – |
| OnMessage Inc. (R-Black) | March 2018 | – | – | 31% | 31% | 10% | 10% | – | – |
| TargetPoint/GQR | March 7–14, 2018 | 390 | ± 5.0% | 25% | 20% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 37% |
| North Star Onion Research (R-Lee) | February 5–11, 2018 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 22% | 25% | 4% | 18% | – | 30% |
| Triton Polling & Research (R) | December 12–18, 2017 | 1,028 | ± 3.1% | 22% | 12% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 53% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Bill Lee | 291,414 | 36.75 |
| | Republican | Randy Boyd | 193,054 | 24.35 |
| | Republican | Diane Black | 182,457 | 23.01 |
| | Republican | Beth Harwell | 121,484 | 15.32 |
| | Republican | Kay White | 3,215 | 0.41 |
| | Republican | Basil Marceaux | 1,264 | 0.16 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 792,888 | 100.0 |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Karl Dean, former mayor of Nashville, 2007–2015

#### Eliminated in primary

* Craig Fitzhugh, Minority Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives
* Mezianne Vale Payne, retiree

#### Declined

* Andy Berke, mayor of Chattanooga and former state senator
* Bill Freeman, businessman and candidate for mayor of Nashville in 2015

### Endorsements
#### Federal officials

* Bob Clement, former U.S. representative (D-TN)
* Steve Cohen, U.S. representative (D-TN)
* Jim Cooper, U.S. representative (D-TN)
* Lincoln Davis, former U.S. representative (D-TN)

#### Labor unions

* Local Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
* Memphis AFSCME Local 1733
* Road Sprinkler Fitters U.A. Local Union No. 66
* Tennessee Pipe Trades; Mid-South Carpenters Regional Council

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Karl Dean | Craig Fitzhugh | Other | Undecided |
| Emerson College | July 11–14, 2018 | 206 | ± 7.3% | 44% | 14% | 9% | 33% |
| TargetPoint/GQR | March 7–14, 2018 | 288 | ± 5.8% | 41% | 11% | – | 44% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Karl Dean | 280,553 | 75.14 |
| | Democratic | Craig Fitzhugh | 72,553 | 23.42 |
| | Democratic | Mezianne Vale Payne | 20,284 | 5.44 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 373,390 | 100.0 |

## Independents
### Candidates

* Mark CoonRippy Brown (Independent)
* Sherry L. Clark (Libertarian)
* Justin Cornett (Libertarian)
* Gabriel Fancher (Libertarian)
* Sean Bruce Fleming (Libertarian)
* William Andrew Helmstetter (Libertarian)
* Cory King (Libertarian)
* Matthew Koch (Libertarian)
* Yvonne Neubert (Green)
* Alfred Shawn Rapoza (Libertarian)
* Chad Riden, comedian (Independent)
* Heather Scott (Libertarian)
* George Blackwell Smith IV (Libertarian)
* Jeremy Allen Stephenson (Libertarian)
* Tracy Yaste Tisdale (Libertarian)
* Mike Toews (Libertarian)
* Rick Tyler, candidate for TN-03 in 2016
* Vinnie Vineyard (Funkmaster V from Wrestling With Ghosts) (Libertarian)
* Jaron D. Weidner (Libertarian)
* Patrick Whitlock (Independent)
* Joe B. Wilmoth (Independent)