Tennessee's 2nd congressional district

The 2nd congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in East Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Tim Burchett since January 2019. Although the district has taken many forms over the years, it has been centered on Knoxville since 1853. During the American Civil War era, the area was represented in Congress by Horace Maynard. Maynard switched parties many times but was pro-U.S. and did not resign from Congress when Tennessee seceded. Maynard entered Congress in 1857 (four years before the outbreak of the war) but did not leave entirely until 1875 (ten years after the war ended).

In the 1964 election, the district chose Knoxville mayor John Duncan, Sr. Duncan served for 23 years before he died in the summer of 1988. Following Duncan's death, the district elected his son, Jimmy. The younger Duncan served for over thirty years from late 1988 until his successor was sworn in early January 2019. Upon Jimmy Duncan's retirement, the district chose outgoing Knox County mayor Tim Burchett, who has served since January 2019.

The few Democratic pockets in the district are located in Knoxville, which has elected Democratic mayors consecutively since 2011, and sends Democratic legislators to the Tennessee General Assembly. However, they are no match for the overwhelming Republican bent of the rest of Knox County and the more suburban and rural areas. For example, Blount, Jefferson, and Grainger Counties are among the few counties in the country to have never supported a Democrat for president since the Civil War.

This district traditionally gives its members of Congress very long tenures in Washington, electing some of the few truly senior Southern Republican members before the 1950s. Since 1909, only seven people (not counting caretakers) have represented the district – Richard W. Austin, J. Will Taylor, John Jennings Jr., Howard Baker Sr., John Duncan Sr., Jimmy Duncan, and Burchett. All six of Burchett's predecessors have served at least ten years in Congress, with Taylor and the Duncans holding the seat for at least twenty years.

Current boundaries The district is located in East Tennessee and borders Kentucky and Virginia to the north and North Carolina to the south. For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), it contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST47/CD118_TN02.pdf

Blount County (11)

All 11 communities

Campbell County (3)

Fincastle, Jellico, LaFollete (part; also 3rd)

Claiborne County (4)

All 4 communities

Grainger County (3)

All 3 communities

Jefferson County (1)

Strawberry Plains

Knox County (7)

All 7 communities

Loudon County (7)

All 7 communities

Union County (3)

All 3 communities

Due to three county island parcels near Sweetwater, Tennessee, the district is not geographically contiguous — rather it is politically contiguous, with county exclaves "connected" despite being entirely-surrounded by Tennessee's 3rd congressional district.

History The district is based in Knoxville and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. The area is known for being the home of the flagship campus for the University of Tennessee, hosting the 1982 World's Fair, and for being the headquarters for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Ruby Tuesday, and Pilot Flying J.

The 2nd is similar in character to the neighboring 1st. It has long been one of the safest districts in the nation for the Republican Party. No Democrat has represented the district since 1855, and Republicans have held the district continuously since 1867 — the longest time any party has retained any district. The Democrats waged some competitive races in the district during the 1930s. However, they have not put up a substantive candidate since 1964 and have only managed 40 percent of the vote twice since then.

Most of its residents supported the United States over the Confederacy during the American Civil War; it was one of four districts whose members of Congress did not resign when Tennessee declared secession from the United States in 1861. The area's residents immediately identified with the Republicans after hostilities ceased. Much of that sentiment was derived from the region's economic base of small-scale farming, with little or no use for slavery; thus, voters were mostly indifferent or hostile to the concerns of plantation owners and other landed interests farther west in the state, who aligned themselves with the Democratic Party. This loyalty has persisted through good times and bad ever since, despite the vast ideological changes in both political parties since that time.

Recent election results from statewide races Year Office Results2008 PresidentMcCain 64% - 34%2012 PresidentRomney 69% - 31%2016 PresidentTrump 65% - 30%2018 SenateBlackburn 57% - 42% GovernorLee 63% - 35%2020 PresidentTrump 64% - 34% SenateHagerty 66% - 32%2022 GovernorLee 67% - 31%2024 PresidentTrump 66% - 32% SenateBlackburn 65% - 33%

List of members representing the district Member Party Years Congress Electoral history District location District established March 4, 1805 George W. Campbell Democratic-Republican March 4, 1805 –March 3, 1809 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1805.Re-elected in 1807.Retired to become judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court. 1805–1813"Hamilton district" Robert Weakley Democratic-Republican March 4, 1809 –March 3, 1811 Elected in 1809.Retired. John Sevier Democratic-Republican March 4, 1811 –September 24, 1815 Elected in 1811.Re-elected in 1813.Re-elected in 1815.Died. 1813–1823 Vacant September 24, 1815 –December 8, 1815 William G. Blount Democratic-Republican December 8, 1815 –March 3, 1819 Elected to finish Sevier's term.Re-elected in 1817.Retired. John A. Cocke Democratic-Republican March 4, 1819 –March 3, 1825 Elected in 1819.Re-elected in 1821.Re-elected in 1823.Re-elected in 1825.Retired. 1823–1833 Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –March 3, 1827 Pryor Lea Jacksonian March 4, 1827 –March 3, 1831 Elected in 1827.Re-elected in 1829.Lost re-election. Thomas D. Arnold Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1831 –March 3, 1833 Elected in 1831.Redistricted to the and lost re-election. Samuel Bunch Jacksonian March 4, 1833 –March 3, 1835 Elected in 1833.Re-elected in 1835.Lost re-election. 1833–1843 Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1835 –March 3, 1837 Abraham McClellan Democratic March 4, 1837 –March 3, 1843 Elected in 1837.Re-elected in 1839.Re-elected in 1841.Retired. William T. Senter Whig March 4, 1843 –March 3, 1845 Elected in 1842.Retired. 1843–1853 William M. Cocke Whig March 4, 1845 –March 3, 1849 Elected in 1845.Re-elected in 1847.Lost re-election as a Democrat. Albert G. Watkins Whig March 4, 1849 –March 3, 1853 Elected in 1849.Re-elected in 1851.Redistricted to the and lost re-election. William M. Churchwell Democratic March 4, 1853 –March 3, 1855 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1853.Retired. 1853–1863 William H. Sneed Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –March 3, 1857 Elected in 1855.Retired. Horace Maynard Know Nothing March 4, 1857 –March 3, 1859 Elected in 1857.Re-elected in 1859.Re-elected in 1861.Could not seek re-election, as state was under Confederate occupation. Opposition March 4, 1859 –March 3, 1861 Union March 4, 1861 –March 3, 1863 District inactive March 4, 1863 –July 24, 1866 Civil War and Reconstruction Horace Maynard Unconditional Union July 24, 1866 –March 3, 1867 Elected in 1865.Re-elected in 1867.Re-elected in 1868.Re-elected in 1870.Redistricted to the . 1866–1873 Republican March 4, 1867 –March 3, 1873 Jacob M. Thornburgh Republican March 4, 1873 –March 3, 1879 Elected in 1872.Re-elected in 1874.Re-elected in 1876.Retired. 1873–1883 Leonidas C. Houk Republican March 4, 1879 –May 25, 1891 Elected in 1878.Re-elected in 1880.Re-elected in 1882.Re-elected in 1884.Re-elected in 1886.Re-elected in 1888.Re-elected in 1890.Died. 1883–1893 Vacant May 25, 1891 –December 7, 1891 John C. Houk Republican December 7, 1891 –March 3, 1895 Elected to finish his father's term.Re-elected in 1892.Lost renomination and lost re-election as an Independent Republican. 1893–1903 Henry R. Gibson Republican March 4, 1895 –March 3, 1905 Elected in 1894.Re-elected in 1896.Re-elected in 1898.Re-elected in 1900.Re-elected in 1902.Retired. 1903–1913 Nathan W. Hale Republican March 4, 1905 –March 3, 1909 Elected in 1904.Re-elected in 1906.Lost re-election. Richard W. Austin Republican March 4, 1909 –March 3, 1919 Elected in 1908.Re-elected in 1910.Re-elected in 1912.Re-elected in 1914.Re-elected in 1916.Lost renomination and lost re-election as an independent. 1913–1923 J. Will Taylor Republican March 4, 1919 –November 14, 1939 Elected in 1918.Re-elected in 1920.Re-elected in 1922.Re-elected in 1924.Re-elected in 1926.Re-elected in 1928.Re-elected in 1930.Re-elected in 1932.Re-elected in 1934.Re-elected in 1936.Re-elected in 1938.Died. 1923–1933 1933–1943 Vacant November 14, 1939 –December 30, 1939 John Jennings Jr. Republican December 30, 1939 –January 3, 1951 Elected to finish Taylor's term.Re-elected in 1940.Re-elected in 1942.Re-elected in 1944.Re-elected in 1946.Re-elected in 1948.Lost renomination. 1943–1953 Howard H. Baker Republican January 3, 1951 –January 7, 1964 Elected in 1950.Re-elected in 1952.Re-elected in 1954.Re-elected in 1956.Re-elected in 1958.Re-elected in 1960.Re-elected in 1962.Died. 1953–1963 1963–1973 Vacant January 7, 1964 –March 10, 1964 Irene Baker Republican March 10, 1964 –January 3, 1965 Elected to finish her husband's term.Retired. John Duncan Sr. Republican January 3, 1965 –June 21, 1988 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.Died. 1973–1983 1983–1993 Vacant June 21, 1988 –November 8, 1988 Jimmy Duncan Republican November 8, 1988 –January 3, 2019 Elected to finish his father's term.Also elected to the next full term.Re-elected in 1990.Re-elected in 1992.Re-elected in 1994.Re-elected in 1996.Re-elected in 1998.Re-elected in 2000.Re-elected in 2002.Re-elected in 2004.Re-elected in 2006.Re-elected in 2008.Re-elected in 2010.Re-elected in 2012.Re-elected in 2014.Re-elected in 2016.Retired. 1993–2003 2003–2013 2013–2023 Tim Burchett Republican January 3, 2019 –present Elected in 2018.Re-elected in 2020.Re-elected in 2022.Re-elected in 2024. 2023–2027

Recent election results

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2024

Tennessee's 2nd congressional district

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