The 2020 Tennessee State Senate election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect 16 of the 33 seats for the Tennessee's State Senate. The elections coincided with the Presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and State House elections. The primary elections were held on August 6, 2020, with the exception of presidential primaries held on March 3 of that year.
Republicans lost District 20, which includes suburban parts of Nashville in Davidson County.
Retirements One incumbent did not run for re-election in 2020. That incumbent was:
Republicans District 26: Dolores Gresham: Retiring
Incumbents defeated In the general election Republicans District 20: Steven Dickerson lost to Heidi Campbell.
Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political ReportOctober 21, 2020
Results summary
+ Summary of the November 3, 2020 Tennessee Senate election results Party Candidates Votes Seats % Before Up Won After +/– Republican 15 939,727 71.41 28 15 14 27 1 Democratic 10 321,494 24.43 5 1 2 6 1 Independent 3 52,928 4.02 0 0 0 0 Write-in 2 1,777 0.14 0 0 0 0 Total 1,315,926 100 33 16 16 33 Source:
Close races Two races were decided by a margin of under 10%:
District Winner Margin District 10 data-sort-value=1 6.32% District 20 data-sort-value=1 (gain) 3.52%
Overview District Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party First elected District 2 Art Swann Republican 2017 Incumbent re-elected. District 4 Jon Lundberg Republican 2016 Incumbent re-elected. District 6 Becky Duncan Massey Republican 2011 Incumbent re-elected. District 8 Frank S. Niceley Republican 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 10 Todd Gardenhire Republican 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 12 Ken Yager Republican 2008 Incumbent re-elected. District 14 Shane Reeves Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. District 16 Janice Bowling Republican 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 18 Ferrell Haile Republican 20102011 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 20 Steven Dickerson Republican 2012 Incumbent lost re-election.New member elected.Democratic gain. District 22 Bill Powers Republican 2019 Incumbent re-elected. District 24 John Stevens Republican 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 26 Dolores Gresham Republican 2008 Incumbent retired.New member elected.Republican hold. District 28 Joey Hensley Republican 2012 Incumbent re-elected. District 30 Sara Kyle Democratic 2014 Incumbent re-elected. District 32 Paul Rose Republican 2019 Incumbent re-elected.
District 2 Following Republican Doug Overbey's appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee in 2017, fellow Republican Art Swann was appointed to replace him.
Republican primary
General election
District 4
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 6 The 6th Senate district covers a large portion of Knox County. It covers southern and western portions of Knoxville, Seymour, and Strawberry Plains. The district had been represented by Becky Duncan Massey.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 8
Republican primary
General election
District 10 The 10th senate district covers part of Bradley County and part of Hamilton County. The district had been represented by Todd Gardenhire.
Todd Gardenhire won re-election by 6.3%, defeating his Democratic opponent Glenn Scruggs.
In the concurrent 2020 presidential race, Donald Trump narrowly carried this district, winning by 3.4%.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 12
Republican primary
General election
District 14 There was a special election to succeed Jim Tracy In March 2018. Republican Shane Reeves defeated Democrat Gayle Jordan in the general election, with 71.7% of the vote.Reeves won re-election to a full term in 2020, receiving 71.8% of the vote.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 16
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 18 The 18th senate district is based in Sumner and Trousdale Counties, and covers parts of eastern Davidson County. The district had been represented by Republican and Senate President Ferrell Haile.
Republican primary
General election
District 20 The 20th senate district was based in Davidson County, and encompassed many of Nashville's wealthy inner suburbs, including Forest Hills, Belle Meade, and parts of Oak Hill and Goodlettsville. The district had been represented by Republican Steven Dickerson, who won re-election in 2016 by 12.5%. The district had been labeled competitive, and Dickerson was considered the most vulnerable incumbent heading into 2020, as the district had been trending leftwards.
Incumbent Republican Steven Dickerson narrowly lost re-election to Democratic nominee Heidi Campbell by 3.5%. This was the first time since 2006 that a Democrat was able to flip a Republican held seat.
In the concurrent 2020 presidential race, Democratic nominee Joe Biden comfortably carried this district, winning by 9.2%.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Steve Dickerson (R) Heidi Campbell (D) UndecidedChange Research/Heidi CampbellChange Research/Heidi CampbellAugust 31 – September 1, 2020531 (LV)± 4.2%47%49%4%
District 22
The 22nd senate district was based in Clarksville, where it covered Montgomery County, as well as Stewart and Houston Counties.
A special election was held on April 23, 2019 due to Senator Mark Green stepping down from his position because he was elected to the U.S. Congress, causing a vacancy. Bill Powers ran as a Republican against Democratic Juanita Charles as well as Independent party members Doyle Clark and David Cutting. Powers won that special election with 53.6% of the vote.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
By county CountyPowers%Glynn%TotalHouston2,64375.51%85724.49%2,969Montgomery42,46059.93%28,39440.07%70,854Stewart4,66480.47%1,13219.53%3,500
District 24
Republican primary
General election
District 26
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 28
Republican primary
General election
District 30
Democratic primary
General election
District 32
There was a special election to succeed Mark Norris on March 12, 2019. Republican Paul Rose defeated Democrat Eric Coleman in the general election, with 84.0% of the vote.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
See also 2020 Tennessee elections 2020 Tennessee House of Representatives election
Notes
Partisan clients
References
External links
(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)