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United States presidential elections in Tennessee

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Presidential elections in Tennessee
Map of the United States with Tennessee highlighted
Number of elections57
Voted Democratic25
Voted Republican19
Voted Whig5
Voted Democratic-Republican7
Voted other1[a]
Voted for winning candidate37
Voted for losing candidate18

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Tennessee, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1796, Tennessee has participated in every U.S. presidential election except the election of 1864, during the American Civil War. At that time, Tennessee was controlled by the Union and held elections, but electors were not ultimately counted.

Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the Democratic Solid South, but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state.[1] During this time, East Tennessee was heavily Republican and the western two thirds mostly voted Democratic, with the latter dominating the state.[2] This division was related to the state's pattern of Unionist and Confederate loyalism during the Civil War.[2]

Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party.[3][4] Republicans currently hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, a majority of Congressional seats, and the state legislature. Democratic strength is largely concentrated in Nashville, Memphis, and parts of Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Clarksville. Some suburban areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

[edit]
Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Other national
candidates[b] 		Votes Percent Electoral
Votes 		Notes
2024[5] Donald Trump 1,966,865 64.19 Kamala Harris 1,056,265 34.47 — 11
2020[6] Joe Biden 1,143,711 37.45 Donald Trump 1,852,475 60.66 — 11
2016[7] Donald Trump[c] 1,522,925 60.72 Hillary Clinton 870,695 34.72 — 11
2012[8] Barack Obama 960,709 39.08 Mitt Romney 1,462,330 59.48 — 11
2008[9] Barack Obama 1,087,437 41.83 John McCain 1,479,178 56.90 — 11
2004[10] George W. Bush 1,384,375 56.80 John Kerry 1,036,477 42.53 — 11
2000[11] George W. Bush[c] 1,061,949 51.15 Al Gore 981,720 47.28 — 11
1996[12] Bill Clinton 909,146 48.00 Bob Dole 863,530 45.59 Ross Perot 105,918 5.59 11
1992 Bill Clinton 933,521 47.08 George H. W. Bush 841,300 42.43 Ross Perot 199,968 10.09 11
1988 George H. W. Bush 947,233 57.89 Michael Dukakis 679,794 41.55 — 11
1984 Ronald Reagan 990,212 57.84 Walter Mondale 711,714 41.57 — 11
1980 Ronald Reagan 787,761 48.70 Jimmy Carter 783,051 48.41 John B. Anderson 35,991 2.22 10
1976 Jimmy Carter 825,879 55.94 Gerald Ford 633,969 42.94 — 10
1972 Richard Nixon 813,147 67.70 George McGovern 357,293 29.75 — 10
1968 Richard Nixon 472,592 37.85 Hubert Humphrey 351,233 28.13 George Wallace 424,792 34.02 11
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson 634,947 55.50 Barry Goldwater 508,965 44.49 — 11
1960 John F. Kennedy 481,453 45.77 Richard Nixon 556,577 52.92 — 11
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower 462,288 49.21 Adlai Stevenson II 456,507 48.60 T. Coleman Andrews/
Unpledged Electors[d]		 19,820 2.11 11
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower 446,147 49.99 Adlai Stevenson II 443,710 49.71 — 11
1948 Harry S. Truman 270,402 49.14 Thomas E. Dewey 202,914 36.87 Strom Thurmond 73,815 13.41 12 Electoral vote split: 11 for Truman, 1 for Thurmond (faithless elector).
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt 308,707 60.45 Thomas E. Dewey 200,311 39.22 — 12
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt 351,601 67.25 Wendell Willkie 169,153 32.35 — 11
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt 328,083 68.85 Alf Landon 146,520 30.75 — 11
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt 259,473 66.49 Herbert Hoover 126,752 32.48 — 11
1928 Herbert Hoover 195,388 53.76 Al Smith 167,343 46.04 — 12
1924 Calvin Coolidge 130,882 43.59 John W. Davis 158,537 52.8 Robert M. La Follette 10,656 3.55 12
1920 Warren G. Harding 219,829 51.29 James M. Cox 206,558 48.19 Parley P. Christensen — — 12
1916 Woodrow Wilson 153,280 56.31 Charles E. Hughes 116,223 42.70 — 12
1912 Woodrow Wilson 133,021 52.80 Theodore Roosevelt 54,041 21.45 William H. Taft 60,475 24.00 12
1908 William H. Taft 117,977 45.87 William Jennings Bryan 135,608 52.73 — 12
1904 Theodore Roosevelt 105,363 43.40 Alton B. Parker 131,653 54.23 — 12
1900 William McKinley 123,108 44.95 William Jennings Bryan 145,240 53.03 — 12
1896 William McKinley 148,683 46.33 William Jennings Bryan 167,168 52.09 — 12
1892 Grover Cleveland 136,468 51.36 Benjamin Harrison 100,537 37.83 James B. Weaver 23,918 9.00 12
1888 Benjamin Harrison[c] 138,978 45.76 Grover Cleveland 158,699 52.26 — 12
1884 Grover Cleveland 133,770 51.45 James G. Blaine 124,101 47.74 — 12
1880 James A. Garfield 107,677 44.26 Winfield S. Hancock 129,569 53.26 James B. Weaver 6,017 2.47 12
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes[c] 89,566 40.21 Samuel J. Tilden 133,177 59.79 — 12
1872 Ulysses S. Grant 85,655 47.84 Horace Greeley 93,391 52.16 — 12
1868 Ulysses S. Grant 56,628 68.4 Horatio Seymour 26,129 31.6 — 10
1864 Abraham Lincoln George B. McClellan — Under Union control by 1864 and held elections, but electors (who voted for Lincoln) were not ultimately counted.

Election of 1860

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The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states, including Tennessee, and brought about the American Civil War.

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
1860 Abraham Lincoln no ballots Stephen A. Douglas 11,281 7.7 John C. Breckinridge 65,097 44.6 John Bell 69,728 47.7 12

Elections from 1828 to 1856

[edit]
Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Other national
candidates[b] 		Votes Percent Electoral
Votes 		Notes
1856 James Buchanan 69,704 52.18 John C. Frémont no ballots Millard Fillmore 63,878 47.82 12
1852 Franklin Pierce 56,900 49.27 Winfield Scott 58,586 50.73 John P. Hale no ballots 12
1848 Zachary Taylor 64,321 52.52 Lewis Cass 58,142 47.48 Martin Van Buren no ballots 13
1844 James K. Polk 59,917 49.95 Henry Clay 60,040 50.05 — 13
1840 William Henry Harrison 60,194 55.66 Martin Van Buren 47,951 44.34 — 15
1836 Martin Van Buren 26,170 42.08 Hugh Lawson White 36,027 57.92 various[e] 15
1832 Andrew Jackson 28,078 95.42 Henry Clay 1,347 4.58 William Wirt no ballots 15
1828 Andrew Jackson 44,293 95.19 John Quincy Adams 2,240 4.81 — 11

Election of 1824

[edit]

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year Winner (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Runner-up (nationally) Votes Percent Electoral
Votes
1824 Andrew Jackson 20,197 97.45 John Quincy Adams 216 1.04 Henry Clay no ballots William H. Crawford 312 1.51 11

Elections of from 1796 to 1820

[edit]

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all eight of Tennessee's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.

Year Winner (nationally) Runner-up (nationally) Electoral
Votes 		Notes
1820 James Monroe - 7 Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816 James Monroe Rufus King 8
1812 James Madison DeWitt Clinton 8
1808 James Madison Charles C. Pinckney 5
1804 Thomas Jefferson Charles C. Pinckney 5
1800 Thomas Jefferson John Adams 3
1796 John Adams Thomas Jefferson 3

Results Maps

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See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ John Bell, 1860.
  2. ^ a b For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
  3. ^ a b c d Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
  4. ^ Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
  5. ^ Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Tennessee.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Langsdon 2000, p. x.
  2. ^ a b Hunt, Keel (2018). Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartisanship Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0-8265-2241-2 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Doble, Rob (December 24, 2020). "Analysis: The polarization express". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Clouse, Allie (November 6, 2020). "As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  5. ^ "Presidential Election Results: Trump Wins". The New York Times. 5 November 2024. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times. 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  7. ^ 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
  8. ^ 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
  9. ^ 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
  10. ^ "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
  11. ^ "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  12. ^ "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
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