# Tennessee's 1st congressional district

Tennessee's 1st congressional district is the congressional district for northeast Tennessee, including all of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, Washington, and Sevier counties, as well as parts of Jefferson County. It is largely coextensive with the Tennessee portion of the Tri-Cities region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+30, it is the most Republican district in Tennessee and the third most Republican in the country.
Cities and towns represented within the district include Blountville, Bristol, Church Hill, Elizabethton, Erwin, Gatlinburg, Greeneville, Johnson City, Jonesborough, Kingsport, Morristown, Mountain City, Newport, Pigeon Forge, Roan Mountain, Rogersville, Sneedville, Sevierville, and Tusculum. The 1st district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives has been held by Republicans since 1881.
The district was created in 1805 when the at-large seat was divided into multiple districts.
The district's current representative is Republican Diana Harshbarger, who was first elected in 2020 following the retirement of Republican Phil Roe.

## Recent election results from statewide races

| Year | Office | Results |
| 2008 | President | McCain 70% - 29% |
| 2012 | President | Romney 74% - 26% |
| 2016 | President | Trump 76% - 20% |
| 2018 | Senate | Blackburn 71% - 28% |
| 2018 | Governor | Lee 76% - 23% |
| 2020 | President | Trump 76% - 22% |
| 2020 | Senate | Hagerty 77% - 21% |
| 2022 | Governor | Lee 78% - 20% |
| 2024 | President | Trump 78% - 21% |
| 2024 | Senate | Blackburn 78% - 20% |

## History

The 1st district has generally been a very secure voting district for the Republican Party since the American Civil War, and is one of only two ancestrally Republican districts in the state (the other being the neighboring 2nd district).
Republicans (or their antecedents) have held the seat continuously since 1881 and for all but four years since 1859, while Democrats (or their antecedents) held the congressional seat for all but eight years from when Andrew Jackson was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1796 (as the state's single at-large representative) up to the term of Albert Galiton Watkins, which ended in 1859.
Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth President of the United States, represented the district from 1843 to 1853.
Like the rest of East Tennessee, slavery was not as common in this area as in the rest of the state due to its mountain terrain, which was dominated by small farms instead of plantations. The district was also the home of the first exclusively abolitionist periodicals in the nation, The Manumission Intelligencer and The Emancipator, founded in Jonesborough by Elihu Embree in 1819.
The 1st district was one of four districts in Tennessee whose congressmen did not resign when Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861. Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson was reelected as a Unionist to the Thirty-seventh Congress, but he was arrested by Confederate troops while en route to Washington, D.C. and taken to Richmond. Nelson was paroled and returned home to Jonesborough, where he kept a low profile for the length of his term.
Due to these factors, this area — except for "Little Confederacy" Sullivan County, with its deep ties to neighboring Virginia — supported the Union over the Confederacy in the Civil War, and identified with the Republican Party after Tennessee was readmitted to the Union in 1866, electing candidates representing the Union Party — a merger of Republicans and pro-Union Democrats — both before and after the war. This allegiance has continued through good times and bad ever since, with Republicans dominating every level of government. While a few Democratic pockets exist in the district's urban areas, they are not enough to sway the district. Since 1898, Democrats have only crossed the 40 percent barrier twice, in 1962 and 1976.
The district's Republican bent is no less pronounced at the presidential level. It was one of the few areas of Tennessee where Barry Goldwater did well in 1964. Johnson, Carter, Unicoi, Washington, Cocke, Sevier, and Hancock Counties are among the few counties in the country to have never supported a Democrat for president since the Civil War. Franklin D. Roosevelt turned in respectable showings in the district during his four runs for president, as did Jimmy Carter in 1976. However, Carter is the last Democrat to carry any county in the district, and apart from Sullivan County, which, except in the Catholicism-dominated 1928 election, was consistently Democratic up to 1948, and Hamblen County in the 1976 election, no county in the present district has backed a Democrat for president since 1940.
The district typically gives its congressmen very long tenures in Washington; indeed, it elected some of the few truly senior Southern Republican congressmen before the 1950s. Only nine people have represented it since 1921. Two of them, B. Carroll Reece and Jimmy Quillen, are the longest-serving members of the House in Tennessee history. Reece held the seat for all but six years from 1921 to 1961, while Quillen held it from 1963 to 1997.

## Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:
Carter County (8)
    All 8 communities
Cocke County (3)
    All 3 communities
Greene County (5)
    All 5 communities
Hamblen County (3)
    All 3 communities
Hancock County (1)
    Sneedville
Hawkins County (8)
    All 8 communities
Jefferson County (6)
    Baneberry, Dandridge, Jefferson City, Morristown (shared with Hamblen County), New Market, White Pine
Johnson County (2)
    Butler, Mountain City
Sevier County (6)
    All 6 communities
Sullivan County (11)
    All 11 communities
Unicoi County (3)
    All 3 communities
Washington County (9)
    All 9 communities

## List of members representing the district

| Representative | Party | Years | Cong ress | Electoral history | District location |
| District established March 4, 1805 ||||||
| John Rhea (Blountville) | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1813 | 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th | Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 1805. Re-elected in 1807. Re-elected in 1809. Re-elected in 1811. Re-elected in 1813. Lost re-election. | 1805–1813 "Washington district": Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| John Rhea (Blountville) | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1815 | 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th | Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 1805. Re-elected in 1807. Re-elected in 1809. Re-elected in 1811. Re-elected in 1813. Lost re-election. | 1813–1823 Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| Samuel Powell (Rogersville) | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817 | 14th | Elected in 1815. Retired. | 1813–1823 Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| John Rhea (Blountville) | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1823 | 15th 16th 17th | Elected in 1817. Re-elected in 1819. Re-elected in 1821. Retired. | 1813–1823 Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| John Blair (Jonesboro) | Democratic-Republican | March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825 | 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd | Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Re-elected in 1831. Re-elected in 1833. Lost re-election. | 1823–1833 Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| John Blair (Jonesboro) | Jacksonian | March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835 | 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd | Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Re-elected in 1831. Re-elected in 1833. Lost re-election. | 1823–1833 Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Sullivan, and Washington counties |
| John Blair (Jonesboro) | Jacksonian | March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835 | 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd | Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Re-elected in 1831. Re-elected in 1833. Lost re-election. | 1833–1843 [data missing] |
| William B. Carter (Elizabethton) | Anti-Jacksonian | March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 | 24th 25th 26th | Elected in 1835. Re-elected in 1837. Re-elected in 1839. Retired. | 1833–1843 [data missing] |
| William B. Carter (Elizabethton) | Whig | March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841 | 24th 25th 26th | Elected in 1835. Re-elected in 1837. Re-elected in 1839. Retired. | 1833–1843 [data missing] |
| Thomas D. Arnold (Greeneville) | Whig | March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 | 27th | Elected in 1841. Retired. | 1833–1843 [data missing] |
| Andrew Johnson (Greeneville) | Democratic | March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1853 | 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd | Elected in 1842. Re-elected in 1845. Re-elected in 1847. Re-elected in 1849. Re-elected in 1851. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee. | 1843–1853 [data missing]} |
| Brookins Campbell (Washington College) | Democratic | March 4, 1853 – December 25, 1853 | 33rd | Elected in 1853. Died. | 1853–1861 [data missing]} |
| Vacant | Vacant | December 25, 1853 – March 30, 1854 | 33rd | | 1853–1861 [data missing]} |
| Nathaniel G. Taylor (Happy Valley) | Whig | March 30, 1854 – March 3, 1855 | 33rd | Elected to finish Campbell's term. Lost re-election. | 1853–1861 [data missing]} |
| Albert G. Watkins (Panther Springs) | Democratic | March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1859 | 34th 35th | Elected in 1855. Re-elected in 1857. Retired. | 1853–1861 [data missing]} |
| Thomas A. R. Nelson (Jonesboro) | Opposition | March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861 | 36th | Elected in 1859. Re-elected in 1861, but captured en route to Congress and failed to take his seat. | 1853–1861 [data missing]} |
| District inactive | District inactive | March 4, 1861 – July 24, 1866 | 37th 38th 39th | Civil War and Reconstruction | Civil War and Reconstruction |
| Nathaniel G. Taylor (Happy Valley) | Union | July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867 | 39th | Elected in 1865. Retired. | 1866–1873 [data missing] |
| Roderick R. Butler (Taylorsville) | Republican | March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1875 | 40th 41st 42nd 43rd | Elected in 1867. Re-elected in 1868. Re-elected in 1870. Re-elected in 1872. Lost re-election. | 1866–1873 [data missing] |
| Roderick R. Butler (Taylorsville) | Republican | March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1875 | 40th 41st 42nd 43rd | Elected in 1867. Re-elected in 1868. Re-elected in 1870. Re-elected in 1872. Lost re-election. | 1873–1883 [data missing] |
| William McFarland (Morristown) | Democratic | March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877 | 44th | Elected in 1874. Lost re-election. | 1873–1883 [data missing] |
| James H. Randolph (Newport) | Republican | March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879 | 45th | Elected in 1876. Retired. | 1873–1883 [data missing] |
| Robert L. Taylor (Jonesboro) | Democratic | March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881 | 46th | Elected in 1878. Lost re-election. | 1873–1883 [data missing] |
| Augustus H. Pettibone (Greeneville) | Republican | March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1887 | 47th 48th 49th | Elected in 1880. Re-elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Retired. | 1873–1883 [data missing] |
| 1883–1893 [data missing] | | | 47th 48th 49th | Elected in 1880. Re-elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Retired. |
| 1883–1893 [data missing] | Roderick R. Butler (Mountain City) | Republican | March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889 | 50th | Elected in 1886. Retired. |
| 1883–1893 [data missing] | Alfred A. Taylor (Johnson City) | Republican | March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1895 | 51st 52nd 53rd | Elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Retired. |
| 1893–1903 [data missing] | | | | 51st 52nd 53rd | Elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Retired. |
| 1893–1903 [data missing] | William C. Anderson (Newport) | Republican | March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897 | 54th | Elected in 1894. Lost renomination. |
| 1893–1903 [data missing] | Walter P. Brownlow (Jonesboro) | Republican | March 4, 1897 – July 8, 1910 | 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st | Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Died. |
| 1903–1913 [data missing] | | | | 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st | Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Died. |
| 1903–1913 [data missing] | Vacant | Vacant | July 8, 1910 – November 8, 1910 | 61st | |
| 1903–1913 [data missing] | Zachary D. Massey (Sevierville) | Republican | November 8, 1910 – March 3, 1911 | 61st | Elected to finish Brownlow's term. Retired. |
| 1903–1913 [data missing] | Sam R. Sells (Johnson City) | Republican | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1921 | 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th | Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Lost renomination. |
| 1913–1933 Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties | Sam R. Sells (Johnson City) | Republican | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1921 | 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th | Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Lost renomination. |
| 1913–1933 Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties | B. Carroll Reece (Butler) | Republican | March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1931 | 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st | Elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Lost renomination. |
| 1913–1933 Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties | Oscar B. Lovette (Greeneville) | Republican | March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933 | 72nd | Elected in 1930. Lost renomination. |
| B. Carroll Reece (Johnson City) | Republican | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1947 | 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th | Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Retired to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee. | 1933–1943 [data missing] |
| 1943–1953 [data missing] | | | 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th | Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Retired to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee. |
| 1943–1953 [data missing] | Dayton E. Phillips (Elizabethton) | Republican | January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1951 | 80th 81st | Elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Lost renomination. |
| 1943–1953 [data missing] | B. Carroll Reece (Johnson City) | Republican | January 3, 1951 – March 19, 1961 | 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th | Elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Died. |
| 1953–1963 [data missing] | | | | 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th | Elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Died. |
| 1953–1963 [data missing] | Vacant | Vacant | March 19, 1961 – May 16, 1961 | 87th | |
| 1953–1963 [data missing] | Louise Reece (Johnson City) | Republican | May 16, 1961 – January 3, 1963 | 87th | Elected to finish her husband's term. Retired. |
| Jimmy Quillen (Kingsport) | Republican | January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1997 | 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th | Elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired. | 1963–1973 [data missing] |
| 1973–1983 [data missing] | | | 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th | Elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired. |
| 1983–1993 [data missing] | | | 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th | Elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired. |
| 1993–2003 [data missing] | | | 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th | Elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired. |
| 1993–2003 [data missing] | Bill Jenkins (Rogersville) | Republican | January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2007 | 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th | Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Retired. |
| 2003–2013 | | | | 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th | Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Retired. |
| 2003–2013 | David Davis (Johnson City) | Republican | January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009 | 110th | Elected in 2006. Lost renomination. |
| 2003–2013 | Phil Roe (Johnson City) | Republican | January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2021 | 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th | Elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Retired. |
| 2013–2023 | | | | 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th | Elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Retired. |
| 2013–2023 | Diana Harshbarger (Kingsport) | Republican | January 3, 2021 – present | 117th 118th 119th | Elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024. |
| 2023–present | Diana Harshbarger (Kingsport) | Republican | January 3, 2021 – present | 117th 118th 119th | Elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024. |

## Recent election results
### 2012

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2012 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Phil Roe (Incumbent) | 182,252 | 76 |
| | Democratic | Alan Woodruff | 47,663 | 19.9 |
| | Green | Robert N. Smith | 2,872 | 1.2 |
| | Independent | Karen Brackett | 4,837 | 2 |
| | Independent | Michael Salyer | 2,048 | 0.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 239,672 | 100 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2014

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Phil Roe (incumbent) | 115,533 | 82.8 |
| | Independent | Robert D. Franklin | 9,906 | 7.1 |
| | Green | Robert N. Smith | 9,869 | 7.1 |
| | Independent | Michael D. Salyer | 4,148 | 3.0 |
| | Independent | Scott Kudialis (write-in) | 14 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 139,470 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2016

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2016 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Phil Roe (incumbent) | 198,293 | 78.4 |
| | Democratic | Alan Bohms | 39,024 | 15.4 |
| | Independent | Robert Franklin | 15,702 | 6.2 |
| | Independent | Paul Krane (write-in) | 6 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 253,025 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2018

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Phil Roe (incumbent) | 172,835 | 77.1 |
| | Democratic | Marty Olsen | 47,138 | 21.0 |
| | Independent | Michael Salyer | 4,309 | 1.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 224,282 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2020

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Diana Harshbarger | 228,181 | 74.7 |
| | Democratic | Blair Walsingham | 68,617 | 22.5 |
| | Independent | Steve Holder | 8,621 | 2.8 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 4 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 305,423 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### 2022

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2022 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Diana Harshbarger (incumbent) | 147,253 | 78.3 |
| | Democratic | Cameron Parsons | 37,032 | 19.7 |
| | Independent | Richard Baker | 2,466 | 1.3 |
| | Independent | Matt Makrom | 1,245 | 0.7 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 187,996 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |