Tuesday was Election Day in Tennessee and voters turned out to vote for governor, the lottery, federal seats and local races.
Lamar Alexander won 55 percent of the vote in his first bid for Senator. Alexander appealed to both Republicans and Democrats in his victory for Senate.
In Tennessee’s gubernatorial race, Republican Van Hilleary and former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen faced off. Bredesen was said to be a supporter of the income tax, while raising taxes in his term as mayor of Nashville. Hilleary had to deal with a lack of name recognition in his home state.
Bredesen stayed on top of the poll all night with Hilleary trailing by about 1-3 percentage points. At about midnight, Phil Bredesen was called the victor. Local Rep. Steve Godsey said that Hilleary suffered because of a “disappointing turnout and lack of support from Knox County voters.”
House Rep. Bill Jenkins, who ran unopposed, won 98 percent of the vote for the 1st Congressional House District. In the House District One race, Rep. Steve Godsey won 97 percent of the vote in an unopposed race. It was his first race in his new redistricted area covering Bristol City, Sullivan County, Bluff City and Kingsport.
Nathan Vaughn beat Rep. Bob Miller in the 2nd House District race with 9014 votes to Miller’s 7696. Miller’s pro-income tax stand may have hurt his chances.
Glen Moody, the independent, received 1154 votes. Sullivan County Republican Executive Committee member Robert Hodge said that “they are going to try to take back the seat next election.”
Rep. Jason Mumpower won in his 4th term bid for state representative. His opponent Independent Van Carrier received 32 percent of the vote, which surprised some. Mumpower’s new area is more Democratic now and some top Sullivan County Democrats believe that the newly elected commissioner Garth Blackburn will run against him in the next election.
Rep. David Davis 6th District faced his toughest challenge from Dale Ford in the August primary. He won unopposed with 99 percent of the vote. Davis said that he was “looking forward to working with the new governor,” and that he was “happy with the high voter turnout in Tennessee.”
Jerome Cochran, a Republican from Carter County, again defeated Rep. Ralph Cole with 72 percent of the vote. The main issue in this race was Cole’s support of a state income tax.
Pro-income tax proponent Rep. Bob Patton in the 7th House District won with 63 percent of the vote.
Sen. Rusty Crowe won 71 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Richard Gabriel and Independent Charlie Mattioli. The lottery passed with 58 percent of Tennesseans supporting it.
Mumpower said, that “one of the top priorities in his next term is working on the setting the limits for the new lottery.”
In the second amendment on the ballot, 53 percent supported allowing the cities to set their own limits on fines. This amendment had been more publicized in bigger cities such as Memphis and Nashville.
Tennessee saw a change in its House officials. Now the Democrats hold the majority 5-4.
Rep. John Duncan took 79 percent of the vote in the 2nd District to win.
In District 3, Incumbent Rep. Zach Wamp prevailed.
Dem. Lincoln Davis defeated Janice Bowling in a tight race in District 4.
The 5th and 6th Districts remain under Democratic representation from Jim Cooper and Bart Gordon.
Marsha Blackburn, a future gubernatorial hopeful won in her first run for Congress in the 7th District. Democrats Tanner, 8th and Ford 9th, won re-election.
In-house, Nashville Republicans gained three seats giving the Democrats a majority of 54-45. The State Senate remains at 18 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

Author