The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Don Sundquist was term-limited and prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. Former Democratic Nashville mayor Phil Bredesen was elected with 50.7% of the vote, narrowly defeating Republican nominee and U.S. Representative Van Hilleary. As of 2026, this is the last Tennessee gubernatorial race where the winner received less than 59% of votes.

With Bredesen's victory, the Tennessee Democratic Party regained a state government trifecta, with Democrats also controlling both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly.

Republican primary

Candidates Jim Henry, former minority leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives Van Hilleary, representative from Tennessee's 4th congressional district Dave Kelley Jessie D. McDonald Bob Tripp

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates L. Best Phil Bredesen, former mayor of Nashville, 1994 Democratic nominee for governor Charles V. Brown Floyd R. Conover Randy Nichols, Knox County district attorney general Charles E. Smith, former Tennessee commissioner of education

Results

General election Candidates Phil Bredesen (D) Van Hilleary (R) Edwin C. Sanders (I) Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I) John Jay Hooker (I) David Gatchell (I) Gabriel Givens (I) Ray Ledford (I) James E. Herren (I) Charles V. Wilhoit Jr. (I) Marivuana Stout Leinoff (I) Francis E. Waldron (I) Ronny Simmons (I) Robert O. Watson (I) Basil Marceaux (I)

Campaign Phil Bredesen promised to manage state government better, improve Tennessee's schools and use his experience as a managed-care executive to fix TennCare, which had created a critical budget shortfall toward the end of Sundquist's term. His reputation as a moderate Democrat was well established (he was a member of the "good government" faction of the Nashville Democratic Party), so Hilleary's attempts to brand him as a liberal ultimately failed. Republicans also suffered from governor Don Sundquist's unpopular attempts to implement a state income tax. Bredesen garnered more support in East Tennessee than was usual for a Democrat, especially one from Nashville.

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political Report October 31, 2002Sabato's Crystal Ball November 4, 2002

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin PhilBredesen (D) VanHilleary (R) Other /UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA October 26–28, 2002 726 (LV) ± 3.8% 48% 44% 8%

Results

By county County Phil BredesenDemocratic Van HillearyRepublican OthersIndependent Margin Totalvotes % # % # % # Anderson 54.5% 12,526 44.1% 10,153 1.4% 318 2,373 22,997 Bedford 50.4% 5,098 48.1% 4,860 1.5% 156 238 10,114 Benton 64.7% 3,640 33.1% 1,863 2.2% 124 1,777 5,627 Bledsoe 48.2% 1,722 50.2% 1,795 1.6% 58 -73 3,575 Blount 42.5% 13,908 55.6% 18,189 1.9% 609 -4,281 32,706 Bradley 37.6% 9,178 60.4% 14,756 2.0% 506 -5,578 24,440 Campbell 54.3% 5,020 44.7% 4,129 1.0% 95 891 9,244 Cannon 57.8% 2,346 40.8% 1,654 1.4% 57 692 4,057 Carroll 54.4% 4,957 43.7% 3,982 1.9% 180 975 9,119 Carter 37.1% 5,877 60.9% 9,656 2.0% 329 -3,779 15,862 Cheatham 50.2% 5,538 48.0% 5,305 1.8% 198 233 11,041 Chester 42.1% 1,900 56.3% 2,544 1.6% 72 -644 4,516 Claiborne 49.2% 3,469 49.4% 3,483 1.4% 93 -14 7,045 Clay 59.7% 1,436 38.7% 932 1.6% 39 504 2,407 Cocke 49.5% 4,219 48.3% 4,114 2.2% 191 105 8,524 Coffee 50.5% 7,613 48.4% 7,286 1.1% 162 327 15,061 Crockett 52.6% 2,265 45.3% 1,951 2.1% 88 314 4,304 Cumberland 44.0% 7,437 54.6% 9,235 1.4% 239 -1,798 16,911 Davidson 58.5% 97,048 38.1% 63,176 3.4% 5,673 33,872 165,897 Decatur 56.6% 2,375 41.4% 1,738 2.0% 81 637 4,194 DeKalb 58.4% 2,929 40.4% 2,025 1.2% 63 904 5,017 Dickson 57.0% 7,810 41.4% 5,673 1.6% 217 2,137 13,700 Dyer 50.7% 5,114 47.0% 4,740 2.3% 227 374 10,081 Fayette 41.0% 3,798 57.2% 5,306 1.8% 166 -1,508 9,270 Fentress 42.8% 2,155 56.3% 2,832 0.9% 43 -677 5,030 Franklin 53.3% 6,312 45.3% 5,364 1.4% 159 948 11,835 Gibson 52.6% 7,700 45.4% 6,639 2.0% 289 1,061 14,628 Giles 52.9% 4,167 45.9% 3,616 1.2% 100 551 7,883 Grainger 45.8% 2,432 52.9% 2,809 1.3% 74 -377 5,315 Greene 41.4% 6,739 57.0% 9,280 1.6% 252 -2,541 16,271 Grundy 67.8% 2,524 31.0% 1,154 1.2% 42 1,370 3,720 Hamblen 44.4% 7,424 54.3% 9,069 1.3% 223 -1,645 16,716 Hamilton 46.3% 40,864 52.3% 46,109 1.4% 1,210 -5,245 88,183 Hancock 42.3% 829 56.0% 1,097 1.7% 32 -268 1,958 Hardeman 56.5% 3,891 41.0% 2,822 2.5% 172 1,069 6,885 Hardin 48.1% 3,594 51.1% 3,820 0.8% 62 -226 7,476 Hawkins 42.0% 5,921 56.0% 7,893 2.0% 269 -1,972 14,083 Haywood 59.3% 3,028 38.9% 1,986 1.8% 90 1,042 5,104 Henderson 43.2% 3,098 54.8% 3,933 2.0% 142 -835 7,173 Henry 59.8% 5,672 37.9% 3,598 2.3% 212 2,074 9,482 Hickman 60.3% 3,931 38.0% 2,477 1.7% 106 1,454 6,514 Houston 71.1% 1,970 27.1% 750 1.8% 50 1,220 2,770 Humphreys 65.0% 3,944 33.3% 2,023 1.7% 99 1,921 6,066 Jackson 67.5% 2,483 30.8% 1,135 1.7% 62 1,348 3,680 Jefferson 44.4% 5,293 54.1% 6,453 1.5% 176 -1,160 11,922 Johnson 36.3% 1,641 62.0% 2,802 1.7% 77 -1,161 4,520 Knox 49.4% 57,726 49.4% 57,683 1.2% 1,443 43 116,852 Lake 71.1% 1,128 25.2% 400 3.7% 58 728 1,586 Lauderdale 56.3% 3,621 41.4% 2,662 2.3% 154 959 6,437 Lawrence 47.0% 5,835 51.8% 6,430 1.2% 155 -595 12,420 Lewis 53.0% 2,026 44.5% 1,700 2.5% 95 326 3,821 Lincoln 43.1% 3,808 55.2% 4,877 1.7% 146 -1,069 8,831 Loudon 42.3% 5,995 56.7% 8,036 1.0% 149 -2,041 14,180 Macon 49.7% 2,554 48.9% 2,516 1.4% 70 38 5,140 Madison 48.9% 13,614 49.5% 13,770 1.6% 462 -156 27,846 Marion 60.3% 4,856 38.0% 3,062 1.7% 136 1,794 8,054 Marshall 57.5% 4,323 40.7% 3,065 1.8% 136 1,258 7,524 Maury 52.8% 10,862 45.3% 9,313 1.9% 378 1,549 20,553 McMinn 43.6% 5,919 54.5% 7,407 1.9% 261 -1,488 13,587 McNairy 48.0% 3,677 50.3% 3,849 1.7% 131 -172 7,657 Meigs 52.7% 1,486 45.5% 1,282 1.8% 51 204 2,819 Monroe 46.3% 5,081 52.1% 5,709 1.6% 174 -628 10,964 Montgomery 58.5% 18,714 39.8% 12,723 1.7% 561 5,991 31,998 Moore 45.9% 950 51.7% 1,070 2.4% 51 -120 2,071 Morgan 57.7% 3,128 41.5% 2,252 0.8% 44 876 5,424 Obion 57.7% 5,928 39.7% 4,083 2.6% 261 1,845 10,272 Overton 65.7% 4,027 32.6% 1,999 1.7% 99 2,028 6,125 Perry 59.8% 1,379 37.8% 871 2.4% 56 508 2,306 Pickett 40.1% 831 59.0% 1,221 0.9% 19 -390 2,071 Polk 56.0% 2,539 42.4% 1,925 1.6% 71 614 4,535 Putnam 54.4% 10,241 43.8% 8,241 1.8% 353 2,000 18,835 Rhea 33.3% 2,727 65.7% 5,383 1.0% 80 -2,656 8,190 Roane 56.1% 9,873 42.5% 7,478 1.4% 261 2,395 17,612 Robertson 52.5% 9,089 45.9% 7,944 1.6% 290 1,145 17,323 Rutherford 48.2% 24,683 50.3% 25,750 1.5% 738 -1,067 51,171 Scott 48.0% 2,326 51.2% 2,480 0.8% 42 -154 4,848 Sequatchie 55.4% 2,020 43.4% 1,582 1.2% 42 438 3,644 Sevier 37.5% 7,642 61.2% 12,477 1.3% 259 -4,835 20,378 Shelby 56.1% 133,084 42.2% 100,261 1.7% 4,048 32,823 237,393 Smith 63.0% 3,741 35.1% 2,086 1.9% 113 1,655 5,940 Stewart 66.6% 2,709 31.0% 1,260 2.4% 97 1,449 4,066 Sullivan 41.8% 17,760 56.7% 24,118 1.5% 637 -6,358 42,515 Sumner 47.8% 19,860 50.7% 21,032 1.5% 626 -1,172 41,518 Tipton 38.6% 5,192 59.5% 8,015 1.9% 253 -2,823 13,460 Trousdale 65.8% 1,515 32.7% 753 1.5% 34 762 2,302 Unicoi 41.2% 1,975 57.1% 2,739 1.7% 81 -764 4,795 Union 49.3% 2,307 49.5% 2,319 1.2% 55 -12 4,681 Van Buren 63.3% 1,178 35.2% 654 1.5% 28 524 1,860 Warren 59.3% 7,137 39.4% 4,743 1.3% 157 2,394 12,037 Washington 40.3% 12,012 58.0% 17,290 1.8% 533 -5,278 29,835 Wayne 40.3% 1,685 58.9% 2,462 0.8% 33 -777 4,180 Weakley 54.4% 5,821 43.7% 4,680 1.9% 205 1,141 10,706 White 49.8% 3,653 48.6% 3,564 1.6% 111 89 7,328 Williamson 41.2% 21,358 57.9% 29,965 0.9% 454 -8,607 51,777 Wilson 48.3% 14,854 50.1% 15,416 1.6% 507 -562 30,777

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also 2002 United States gubernatorial elections 2002 United States Senate election in Tennessee 2002 Tennessee elections

Notes

References

External links Official campaign websites (archived) Phil Bredesen for Governor Van Hilleary for Governor