2018 Election Central
November 7, 2018
National and State Results
Highlights from State Election Results from 2018 as of 1:03 am local time
U.S. Senate Class I
1,917 of 1,969 precincts – 97 percent
Marsha Blackburn, GOP 1,198,410 – 54 percent
Phil Bredesen, Dem 972,563 – 44 percent
Governor
1,832 of 1,969 precincts – 93 percent
Bill Lee, GOP 1,268,772 – 59 percent
Karl Dean, Dem 838,237 – 39 percent
U.S. House District 1 Eastern Corner of State
186 of 206 precincts – 90 percent
Phil Roe, GOP (i) 159,224 – 77 percent
Marty Olsen, Dem 44,307 – 21 percent
Michael Salyer, Ind 3,869 – 2 percent
U.S. House District 2 East, Knoxville/Knox Co
177 of 177 precincts – 100 percent
Tim Burchett, GOP 171,994 – 66 percent
Renee Hoyos, Dem 86,635 – 33 percent
U.S. House District 3 SE and NE, Chattanooga
276 of 276 precincts – 100 percent
Chuck Fleischmann, GOP (i) 156,385 – 64 percent
Danielle Mitchell, Dem 84,632 – 34 percent
Rick Tyler, Ind 4,514 – 2 percent
U.S. House District 4 South Central
217 of 240 precincts – 90 percent
Scott DesJarlais, GOP (i) 139,064 – 63 percent
Mariah Phillips, Dem 75,801 – 34 percent
Michael Shupe, Ind 6,882 – 3 percent
U.S. House District 5 Central, Nashville
185 of 185 precincts – 100 percent
Jim Cooper, Dem (i) 177,661 – 68 percent
Jody Ball, GOP 84,196 – 32 percent
U.S. House District 6 North Central
254 of 263 precincts – 97 percent
John Rose, GOP 168,828 – 70 percent
Dawn Barlow, Dem 67,605 – 28 percent
David Ross, Ind 3,361 – 1 percent
Lloyd Dunn, Ind 2,100 – 1 percent
U.S. House District 7 West Central
281 of 281 precincts – 100 percent
Mark Green, GOP 169,769 – 67 percent
Justin Kanew, Dem 81,574 – 32 percent
Lenny Ladner, Ind 1,583 – 1 percent
U.S. House District 8 NW Corner of State
247 of 247 precincts – 100 percent
David Kustoff, GOP (i) 166,400 – 68 percent
Erika Pearson, Dem 74,126 – 30 percent
James Hart, Ind 5,509 – 2 percent
U.S. House District 9 SW Corner, Memphis
129 of 129 precincts – 100 percent
Steve Cohen, Dem (i) 143,690 – 80 percent
Charlotte Bergmann, GOP 34,710 – 19 percent
Leo AwGoWhat, Ind 1,414 – 1 percent
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., watches election returns in her race for the U.S. Senate with former Gov. Phil Bredesen Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Franklin, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Tennessee Election Results
Blackburn wins Tennessee Senate race, keeping seat for GOP
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn won a grueling, expensive contest Tuesday to become the first female U.S. senator from Tennessee, keeping a key midterm seat under GOP control.
The congresswoman defeated Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen by closely aligning her bid with President Donald Trump, who drummed up support for her during three visits to the state that he won by 26 percentage points, including a rally alongside Vice President Mike Pence in Chattanooga two days before the election.
“Now, you don’t have to worry if you’re going to call me congressman, or congresswoman, or congress lady. Now, senator will do,” she said in her victory speech.
— Marsha Blackburn
Blackburn calls herself congressman, not congresswoman.
Her win represents a rightward shift from the GOP senator she will replace, Bob Corker, who fell in line with Tennessee’s historical preference for more-centrist senators and at times was a vocal critic of Trump.
First elected to the House in 2002, Blackburn aligned with the tea party movement and regularly appeared on Fox News.
She opened her campaign by dubbing herself a “hardcore, card-carrying Tennessee conservative.” Before that, she made a name for herself as a state lawmaker who helped lead the revolt against a proposed Tennessee income tax in the early 2000s.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift even broke her political silence for the Tennessee contest when she went on Instagram to endorse Bredesen and encourage people to vote.
“I just really want those young people to know how important it is to the future of our country that you not get discouraged, that you stay engaged and you never, ever, ever give up,” Bredesen said Tuesday night.
Blackburn took aim at Bredesen for donating to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and receiving campaign checks from high-profile Democrats. Although Bredesen largely kept his distance from other well-known Democrats, Blackburn had no qualms bringing Trump and fellow national Republicans to Tennessee.
She welcomed in Pence three times. The president’s son Eric Trump, and U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina also came along for separate campaign events.
Voters like Cody Wheeler in the Nashville suburbs were skeptical about Bredesen’s promise to independents and Republicans that he wouldn’t toe the party line in Washington.
“I had a hard time believing his campaign,” said Wheeler, a 30-year-old Blackburn voter from Williamson County. “With Marsha, you knew what you were going to get.”
Corker, the outgoing senator, had backed Blackburn but refused to campaign against Bredesen, whom he considers a friend. Corker briefly heard out pleas from some peers last winter that he reconsider retirement, prompting a Blackburn spokeswoman to say anyone who thinks she can’t win the general election is a “plain sexist pig.”
Afterward though, she managed to consolidate support across the GOP’s various political circles, including from former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, who briefly opposed her in the primary and called for Corker to run again upon dropping out of the race.
On Tuesday night, she was happy to claim a piece of Tennessee history for women in the Senate.
“And just imagine this: It is a conservative woman to boot,” she said to loud applause.