2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election

The 2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican Governor Bill Lee was re-elected to a second term with 64.9% of the vote, improving on his performance from 2018. The primary elections took place on August 4, 2022, with Lee and Democrat Jason Martin winning their respective parties' nominations.[2][3] Lee was sworn in for his second term on January 21, 2023.

2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election

November 8, 2022
Turnout38.61% Decrease[1] 15.85 pp
 
Nominee Bill Lee Jason Martin
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,129,390 572,818
Percentage 64.9% 32.9%

County results
Lee:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Martin:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election

Bill Lee
Republican

Elected Governor

Bill Lee
Republican

During the general election, Lee flipped reliably Democratic Haywood County, home to Brownsville. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee, along with Shelby County, with a majority African-American population. Haywood County has not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1972. Martin won only Shelby and Davidson Counties.

Voter turnout for the 2022 midterm elections in Tennessee was the lowest it has been in nearly a decade, with only 38.61% of Tennessee's registered voters turning out. The last time turnout was this low in Tennessee was in the 2014 midterm elections. This turnout was far below the 2020 presidential election in Tennessee, which saw a turnout of 69.3%.[4][5] Tennessee's neighboring state Alabama saw a significant drop in voter turnout as well, with only 38.5% of Alabamians turning out to vote this midterm cycle.

Republican primary

Nominee

Disqualified

  • Curtis Carney, business owner[8][7]
  • Tyler Hagerman[7]
  • Patricia Morrison[7]

Declined

Endorsements

Bill Lee
U.S. Executive Branch officials

Results

Republican primary results[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Lee (incumbent) 494,362 100.00%
Total votes 494,362 100.00%

Democratic primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

J. B. Smiley Jr.
U.S. Representatives
Local officials

Results

Results by county:
  Martin
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Smiley
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Atwater
  •   30–40%
Democratic primary results[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jason Martin 101,552 39.39%
Democratic J.B. Smiley Jr. 100,062 38.81%
Democratic Carnita Atwater 56,227 21.81%
Total votes 257,841 100.00%

Independents

Declared

Disqualified

  • Lemichael DaShaun-Wilson[25]
  • Hosie Holomon III[25]
  • Wendell Jackson[25]
  • Jake Johns[25]

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[26] Solid R March 4, 2022
Inside Elections[27] Solid R July 22, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[28] Safe R June 29, 2022
Politico[29] Solid R April 1, 2022
RCP[30] Safe R January 10, 2022
Fox News[31] Solid R May 12, 2022
538[32] Solid R August 4, 2022
Elections Daily[33] Safe R November 7, 2022

Endorsements

Jason Martin (D)

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Bill
Lee (R)
Jason
Martin (D)
Other Undecided
RABA Research July 21–31, 2022 549 (LV) ± 4.2% 52% 28% 6% 14%
Hypothetical polling
Bill Lee vs. generic opponent
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]
Margin
of error
Bill
Lee (R)
Generic
Opponent
Undecided
Vanderbilt University April 26 – May 14, 2022 1,000 (RV) ± 3.8% 48% 39% 12%

Results

2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election[39]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Bill Lee (incumbent) 1,129,390 64.91% +5.55
Democratic Jason Martin 572,818 32.92% −5.63
Independent John Gentry 15,395 0.89% N/A
Independent Constance Every 10,277 0.59% N/A
Independent Deborah Rouse 3,772 0.22% N/A
Independent Rick Tyler 2,380 0.14% N/A
Independent Charles Van Morgan 1,862 0.11% N/A
Independent Basil Marceaux 1,568 0.09% N/A
Independent Alfred O'Neil 1,216 0.07% N/A
Independent Michael Scantland 815 0.05% N/A
Write-In Lemichael D. Wilson 386 0.02% N/A
Write-In Charles Carney 2 0.00% N/A
Write-In Stephen C. Maxwell 1 0.00% N/A
Write-In Kameron Parker Scott 0 0.00% N/A
Total votes 1,739,882 100.00%
Turnout 1,756,397 38.61% -15.85%
Registered electors 4,549,183
Republican hold

By county[40]

CountyBill Lee
Republican
Jason Martin
Democratic
Other votesTotal
votes
 % #  % #  % #
Anderson65.82%14,00332.11%6,8322.07%44021,275
Bedford79.31%8,40118.28%1,9362.41%25610,593
Benton79.19%3,24718.44%7562.37%974,100
Bledsoe86.11%2,93312.27%4181.62%553,406
Blount74.43%29,47023.53%9,3162.04%80939,595
Bradley81.99%20,65516.26%4,0961.75%44225,193
Campbell81.97%6,11815.86%1,1972.17%1647,549
Cannon80.74%3,08217.50%6681.76%673,817
Carroll80.23%5,73317.74%1,2682.03%1457,146
Carter80.12%11,60217.78%2,5752.10%30314,480
Cheatham71.27%8,30926.92%3,1381.81%21111,388
Chester83.54%3,75613.83%6222.62%1184,496
Claiborne84.01%5,65214.18%9541.81%1226,728
Clay80.08%1,45116.94%3072.98%541,812
Cocke81.21%6,61815.95%1,3002.83%2318,149
Coffee77.16%10,52920.60%2,8112.24%30613,646
Crockett82.30%2,73416.23%5391.48%493,322
Cumberland82.40%17,86416173,5051.43%31121,680
Davidson34.24%60,90063.38%112,7082.38%4,229177,837
Decatur80.65%2,71317.72%5961.63%553,364
DeKalb
Dickson
Dyer80.61%6,79116.81%1,4162.58%2178,424
Fayette
Fentress
Franklin
Gibson76.61%9,64021.21%2,6692.18%27412,583
Giles
Grainger
Greene
Grundy
Hamblen
Hamilton60.02%60,64738.45%38,8621.53%1,542101,051
Hancock84.61%1,11012.58%1652.81%371,312
Hardeman
Hardin
Hawkins
Haywood51.14%2,01147.31%1,8601.55%613,932
Henderson
Henry79.59%6,67419.13%1,6041.28%1078,385
Hickman
Houston
Humphreys
Jackson
Jefferson
Johnson
Knox59.95%76,88038.32%49,1401.73%2,222128,242
Lake
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Lewis
Lincoln
Loudon
Macon
Madison63.77%15,35734.24%8,2461.99%47924,082
Marion
Marshall
Maury
McMinn
McNairy
Meigs
Monroe
Montgomery60.22%24,81336.38%14,9883.4%1,40041,201
Moore
Morgan
Obion82.63%6,41815.10%1,1732.27%1767,767
Overton
Perry
Pickett
Polk
Putnam72.45%14,21724.84%4,8752.71%53219,624
Rhea
Roane
Robertson75.97%14,06621.86%4,0482.17%40018,514
Rutherford61.99%46,57535.87%26,9482.14%1,60475,127
Scott
Sequatchie
Sevier80.36%18,31416.75%3,8182.89%65822,790
Shelby43.20%86,38454.51%108,9952.29%4,583199,962
Smith
Stewart
Sullivan
Sumner71.57%37,46626.12%13,6722.31%1,20952,347
Tipton
Trousdale
Unicoi
Union
Van Buren
Warren
Washington
Wayne
Weakley78.94%6,41718.32%1,4892.74%2238,129
White
Williamson68.06%58,13230.57%26,1161.37%1,16985,417
Wilson70.69%31,49627.40%12,2081.91%84844,552
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2022". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 8, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "2022 Midterm Election Events Calendar". www.cnn.com. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  3. "Doctor critical of lax COVID rules wins Tenn. Dem gov race". AP NEWS. August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  4. McCullough, Erin (November 11, 2022). "Less than 40% of registered voters in Tennessee turned out for the 2022 midterms". WKRN News 2. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  5. Gonzales, Tony (November 10, 2022). "Tennessee voter turnout far below 2018 showing". 90.3 WPLM News. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  6. Ebert, Joel. "'I love this job': Bill Lee says he'll seek a second term as Tennessee governor". The Tennessean. The USA Today Network. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  7. "Tennessee Petitions". TNSOS. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  8. "New PAC Targets Gov. Lee's Re-Election Bid". Across Tennessee, TN Patch. April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  9. Rau, Nate (March 23, 2022). "Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles enters District 5 race". Axios. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  10. Murray, Stephanie (August 16, 2021). "Redistricting looms in Texas". Politico. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  11. "Nikki Haley endorses Republican Governor". ABC News. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  12. "August 4, 2022 Republican Primary Governor" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  13. "Doctor eyes run for governor". Nashville Post. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  14. "Sumner County doctor Jason Martin announces gubernatorial campaign | News | wsmv.com". www.wsmv.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  15. "First Democratic Candidate for Governor". Tri-State Defender. April 8, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  16. "Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr. Enters Democratic Race for Tennessee Governor". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  17. "Democrats running for governor make it official". Nashville Post. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  18. ""I'm suspending my campaign for governor."". Facebook. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  19. "New PAC targets Lee's re-election bid". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  20. "I'm so excited y'all, @jasonbmartin is exactly the leadership TN families need now!". Twitter. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  21. "Memphis congressman endorses in '22 gubernatorial primary". Nashville Post. October 13, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  22. "Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris endorses Smiley for governor". May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  23. "20-Plus Tennessee Leaders Announce Support for JB Smiley, Jr. for Governor". The Tennessee Tribune. October 21, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  24. "August 4, 2022 Democratic Primary Governor" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  25. "Petition Information". Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  26. "2022 Governor Race Ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  27. "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  28. "2022 Gubernatorial race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  29. "Tennessee Governor Race 2022". Politico. April 1, 2022.
  30. "2022 Governor Races". RCP. January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  31. "2022 Election Forecast". Fox News. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  32. "2022 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  33. Szymanski, Joe (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Unveils Final 2022 Midterm Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  34. "Bill Lee's Ratings and Endorsements". justfacts.votesmart.org. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  35. "NFIB Tennessee PAC Endorses Bill Lee for Second Term as Governor". National Federation of Independent Businesses. September 15, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  36. "Tennessee Endorsements". National Right to Life. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  37. "General Election Endorsements". Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  38. "Tennessee - COMPAC Endorsements". UMWA. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  39. State of Tennessee General Election Results Governor, November 8, 2022, Results By Office (PDF) (Report). Secretary of State of Tennessee. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  40. "2022 Gubernatorial Results by County" (PDF). Tennessee Secretary of State. November 8, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
Official campaign websites
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