The 1986 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986, to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican governor Lamar Alexander was term-limited, leaving the governorship an open seat. Democratic nominee Ned McWherter defeated former Republican governor Winfield Dunn with 54.3% of the vote.
With this win, McWherter flipped the state back into Democratic control, with the state legislature also being controlled by Democrats.
Background Republican governor Winfield Dunn's term ended in 1975; at the time, the Constitution of Tennessee barred governors from serving consecutive terms. He returned to the private sector, working for several years as the vice president of public relations for the Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 370–381, 396–397.
In 1986, Dunn once again ran for governor. He easily defeated Hubert Patty and Charles Vick in the Republican primary, but questions over party unity dogged his campaign.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 370–381, 396–397. During his first term, Dunn had vetoed a bill calling for the establishment of a medical school at East Tennessee State University, reasoning that the state's three existing medical schools were adequate. Though the legislature overrode his veto, he nevertheless drew the enmity of powerful 1st district congressman Jimmy Quillen, in whose district the school was to be located. Quillen was still smarting over the veto more than a decade later, and withheld his endorsement in 1986. Without Quillen's endorsement, Dunn struggled in East Tennessee (normally a Republican stronghold), and was defeated in the general election by the Democratic nominee, Ned McWherter.Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 370–381, 396–397.
Primary elections Primary elections were held on August 7, 1986.
Democratic primary
Candidates Ned McWherter, Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Jane Eskind, Public Service Commissioner Richard Fulton, Mayor of Nashville Joseph L. Crichton Bill Jacox
Results
Republican primary
Candidates Winfield Dunn, former governor Hubert David Patty, perennial candidate Charles Gordon Vick, perennial candidate
Results
General election
Candidates Ned McWherter, Democratic Winfield Dunn, Republican
Results
See also
1986 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee
References