2012 Tennessee Senate election

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2012 Tennessee Senate election

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →

16 of the 33 seats in the Tennessee State Senate
17 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Ron Ramsey Jim Kyle
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat 4th district 28th district
Seats before 20 13
Seats won 26 7
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 6
Popular vote 704,393 302,714
Percentage 69.94% 30.06%

Results:
     Republican gain
     Republican hold      Democratic hold
     No Election
Vote Share:
     50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%
     >90%

Speaker before election

Ron Ramsey
Republican

Elected Speaker

Ron Ramsey
Republican

The 2012 Tennessee State Senate election was held on November 6, 2012, 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 2, 2012.[1]

Republicans gained 6 seats, getting a supermajority in the Senate chamber.[2][3]

Retirements[edit]

Five incumbents (4 Democrats and 1 Republican) did not run for re-election in 2012. Those incumbents are:

Democrats[edit]

  1. District 10: Andy Berke retired to run for mayor of Chattanooga in 2013.
  2. District 16: Eric Stewart retired to run for Tennessee's 4th congressional district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  3. District 20: Joe M. Haynes retired.
  4. District 24: Roy Herron retired.

Republicans[edit]

  1. District 18: Kerry Roberts retired.

Incumbents defeated[edit]

In the primary election[edit]

Democrats[edit]

  1. District 30: Beverly Marrero lost renomination to Jim Kyle.

In the general election[edit]

Democrats[edit]

  1. District 22: Tim Barnes lost to Mark Green

Results summary[edit]

Party Candidates Votes Seats
No. % Before Up Won After +/–
Republican 15 704,393 69.94% 20 9 15 26 Increase 6
Democratic 10 302,714 30.06% 13 7 1 7 Decrease 6
Total 1,007,107 100.00% 33 16 16 33 Steady
Source: [1]
Popular vote
Republican
69.94%
Democratic
30.06%
Senate seats
Republican
78.79%
Democratic
21.21%

Closest races[edit]

Three races were decided by a margin of under 10%:

District Winner Margin
District 22 Republican (gain) 6.16%
District 20 Republican (gain) 8.16%
District 10 Republican (gain) 8.64%

Detailed results by State Senate District[edit]

District 2District 4District 6District 8District 10District 12District 14District 16District 18District 20District 22District 24District 26District 28District 30District 32

District 2[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 2[4]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Doug Overbey (incumbent) 11,334 61.0
Republican Scott Hughes 7,260 39.0
Total votes 18,594 100
General election
Republican Doug Overbey (incumbent) 60,517 100
Total votes 60,517 100
Republican hold

District 4[edit]

General election[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 4[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ron Ramsey (incumbent) 55,913 100
Total votes 55,913 100
Republican hold

District 6[edit]

General election[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 6[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Becky Duncan Massey (incumbent) 49,744 68.7
Democratic Evelyn Gill 22,691 31.3
Total votes 72,435 100
Republican hold

District 8[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 8[7]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Frank Niceley 7,021 44.6
Republican Cynthia Bundren Jackson 5,432 34.5
Republican Jeffrey Brantley 1,817 11.5
Republican Hobart Rice 1,483 9.4
Total votes 15,753 100
General election
Republican Frank Niceley 43,687 100
Total votes 43,687 100
Republican hold

District 10[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 10[8]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Andrae McGary 4,302 61.6
Democratic David Testerman 1,705 24.4
Democratic Quenston Coleman 979 14.0
Total votes 6,986 100
Republican Todd Gardenhire 8,022 50.1
Republican Greg Vital 7,982 49.9
Total votes 16,004 100
General election
Republican Todd Gardenhire 36,557 54.32%
Democratic Andrae McGary 30,745 45.68%
Total votes 67,302 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

District 12[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 12[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ken Yager (incumbent) 51,076 100
Total votes 51,076 100
Republican hold

District 14[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 14[10]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jim Tracy (incumbent) 11,174 86.7
Republican Matt Randolph 1,707 13.3
Total votes 12,881 100
General election
Republican Jim Tracy (incumbent) 50,235 100
Total votes 50,235 100
Republican hold

District 16[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 16[11]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jim Lewis 2,937 27.60
Democratic Steve Roller 2,902 27.27
Democratic Justin Walling 2,878 27.04
Democratic Kevin Lawrence 1,256 11.80
Democratic Jeff Bottoms 670 6.30
Total votes 10,643 100.00
Republican Janice Bowling 8,162 60.1
Republican Ron Stolzfus 2,280 16.8
Republican Eric Chance 2,277 16.8
Republican Rod McClellan 866 6.4
Total votes 13,585 100
General election
Republican Janice Bowling 40,139 62.9
Democratic Jim Lewis 23,636 37.1
Total votes 63,775 100
Republican gain from Democratic

District 18[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 18[12]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ferrell Haile 8,627 48.2
Republican Jeff Coker 7,527 42.1
Republican J. H. Tony Allers 1,370 7.7
Republican Brock Ewell 367 2.1
Total votes 17,891 100
General election
Republican Ferrell Haile 49,472 69.2
Democratic Maria Brewer 21,970 30.8
Total votes 71,442 100
Republican hold

District 20[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 20[13]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Phillip North 5,148 74.3
Democratic James Baxter 1,784 25.7
Total votes 6,932 100
Republican Steven Dickerson 5,378 48.5
Republican David Hall 3,325 30.0
Republican Rob Mortenson 2,379 21.5
Total votes 11,082 100
General election
Republican Steven Dickerson 46,254 54.08%
Democratic Phillip North 39,280 45.92%
Total votes 85,534 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

District 22[edit]

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tim Barnes (incumbent) 3,869 100.00%
Total votes 3,869 100.00%

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mark Green 4,849 100.00%
Total votes 4,849 100.00%

General election[edit]

Results by county

County Green % Barnes % Total
Houston 1,317 45.23% 1,595 54.77% 2,912
Montgomery 28,197 53.66% 24,348 46.34% 52,545
Stewart 2,449 51.42% 2,314 48.58% 4,763
County results
Green:      50–60%
Barnes:      50–60%
2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 22[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mark Green 31,963 53.08%
Democratic Tim Barnes (incumbent) 28,257 46.92%
Total votes 60,220 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

District 24[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 24[15]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Stevens 5,419 60.9
Republican Danny Jowers 3,476 39.1
Total votes 8,895 100
General election
Republican John Stevens 38,667 56.5
Democratic Brad Thompson 29,807 43.5
Total votes 68,474 100
Republican gain from Democratic

District 26[edit]

General election[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 26[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dolores Gresham (incumbent) 42,990 60.4
Democratic Meryl Rice 28,131 39.6
Total votes 71,121 100
Republican hold

District 28[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 28[17]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joey Hensley 12,589 76.6
Republican Dean Dickey 3,847 23.4
Total votes 16,436 100
General election
Republican Joey Hensley 37,361 55.2
Democratic Tyler Cobb 30,375 44.8
Total votes 67,736 100
Republican gain from new constituency

District 30[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 30[18]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jim Kyle (incumbent) 7,368 55.4
Democratic Beverly Marrero (incumbent) 5,931 44.6
Total votes 13,299 100
General election
Democratic Jim Kyle (incumbent) 47,822 100
Total votes 47,822 100
Democratic hold

District 32[edit]

2012 Tennessee Senate election, District 32[19]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mark Norris (incumbent) 26,592 88.9
Republican Woody Degan 3,319 11.1
Total votes 29,911 100
General election
Republican Mark Norris (incumbent) 69,818 100
Total votes 69,818 100
Republican hold

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tennessee State Senate elections, 2012". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  2. ^ "Republicans Gain Supermajority In Tennessee House & Senate". WREG.com. 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  3. ^ Potter, Daniel (2012-11-07). "Historic Legislative Majority for Republicans". WPLN News. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  4. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 2". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  5. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 4". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  6. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 6". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  7. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 8". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  8. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 10". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  9. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 12". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  10. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 14". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  11. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 16". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  12. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 18". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  13. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 20". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  14. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 22". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  15. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 24". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  16. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 26". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  17. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 28". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  18. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 30". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  19. ^ "Tennessee State Senate District 32". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-09.