Tennessee Republican Party
Encyclopedia
The Tennessee Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party
in Tennessee
. It is often called the Tennessee Grand Old Party or the TN GOP.
Republicans won a historic victory in Tennessee's 2008 elections, when the party won majorities in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly
for the first time since the Reconstruction Era election of 1868. Smith was unanimously re-elected at the end of 2008 to a full two-year term as chairman for calendar years 2009 and 2010. In April 2009, Smith announced her resignation in order to run for Congress in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
in the August 2010 Republican primary
.
The Chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Chris Devaney, who was elected in May 2009 and started serving as Chairman on June 1, 2009, to complete Smith's unfinished term after she resigned in order to run for Congress. Devaney previously was State Director for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker
, and before that had been executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party under Bob Davis.
Legislative leadership
joined the fight against Gore when they started to campaign for GOP and posted pro-George W. Bush
billboards along the streets and highways. Throughout the campaign it was a dog fight but in the end the Republican Party had won Tennessee. 2,076,155 voters turned out in Tennessee and Bush won with 51.1% of the popular vote.
-William G. Brownlow 1865-1869
-Dewitt C. Senter 1869-1871
-Alvin Hawkins 1881-1883
-Ben W. Hooper 1911-1915
-Alfred A. Taylor 1921-1923
-Winfield Dunn 1971-1975
-Lamar Alexander 1979-1987
-Don Sundquist 1995-2003
-Bill Haslam 2011-Present
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. It is often called the Tennessee Grand Old Party or the TN GOP.
Leadership and staff
The Tennessee Republican Party has had three different chairmen since 2005. On December 11, 2004, the State Executive Committee unanimously elected Bob Davis as Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party to serve for the calendar years 2005 and 2006. He was subsequently elected to a second two year term, 2007 and 2008, but resigned from the chairmanship in August 2007 to become Senior Adviser to presidential candidate Fred Thompson. The party's State Executive Committee then chose Robin Smith, former chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and vice chairman of the Tennessee GOP under Davis, to complete Davis's two-year term.Republicans won a historic victory in Tennessee's 2008 elections, when the party won majorities in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
for the first time since the Reconstruction Era election of 1868. Smith was unanimously re-elected at the end of 2008 to a full two-year term as chairman for calendar years 2009 and 2010. In April 2009, Smith announced her resignation in order to run for Congress in Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
Tennessee's 3rd congressional district
The 3rd Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes a north-south strip in the eastern part of the state. Current Republican Representative Chuck Fleischmann has served since 2011....
in the August 2010 Republican primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
.
The Chairman of the Republican Party of Tennessee is Chris Devaney, who was elected in May 2009 and started serving as Chairman on June 1, 2009, to complete Smith's unfinished term after she resigned in order to run for Congress. Devaney previously was State Director for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker
Bob Corker
Robert Phillips "Bob" Corker, Jr. is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee. Before his election to the Senate in 2006, he served as mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee from 2001 to 2005. Corker was a businessman prior to holding public office.-Early life and family:Born in Orangeburg, South...
, and before that had been executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party under Bob Davis.
Current elected officials
The Tennessee Republican Party controls the governor's office and a majority in both the Tennessee Senate and the Tennessee House of Representatives. Republicans hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 7 of the state's 9 U.S. House seats.U.S. House of Representatives
- Phil RoePhil RoeDavid Phillip "Phil" Roe is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in the Tri-Cities area in the northeastern portion of the state....
, 1st DistrictTennessee's 1st congressional districtThe Tennessee 1st Congressional District is the congressional district of northeast Tennessee, including all of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties and parts of Jefferson County and Sevier County... - Jimmy Duncan, 2nd DistrictTennessee's 2nd congressional districtThe 2nd congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes the east central part of the state....
- Chuck FleischmannChuck FleischmannCharles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann is the U.S. Representative for . The district is based in Chattanooga and includes a large swath of East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge. He is a member of the Republican Party....
, 3rd DistrictTennessee's 3rd congressional districtThe 3rd Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes a north-south strip in the eastern part of the state. Current Republican Representative Chuck Fleischmann has served since 2011.... - Scott DesJarlaisScott DesJarlaisScott Eugene DesJarlais is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and medical career:...
, 4th DistrictTennessee's 4th congressional districtThe 4th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle and East Tennessee. It is the state's largest district in terms of area, and one of the largest east of the Mississippi River, because of low population density and rural character... - Diane BlackDiane BlackDiane Lynn Black is the U.S. Representative for . The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. She is a member of the Republican Party. She is formerly a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 18th district, which encompasses Robertson County and part of Sumner County...
, 6th DistrictTennessee's 6th congressional districtThe 6th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It currently includes all of Bedford, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Jackson, Macon, Marshall, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, and Trousdale Counties, as well as a portion of Wilson County... - Marsha BlackburnMarsha BlackburnMarsha Wedgeworth Blackburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches from the suburbs of Nashville to the suburbs of Memphis.-Early life, education and career:...
, 7th DistrictTennessee's 7th congressional districtThe 7th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district located in the middle and southwestern parts of the state, connecting suburbs of Memphis and Nashville. It is the state's wealthiest district in terms of per capita income, as well as the third largest in area.Cities in the... - Stephen FincherStephen FincherStephen Lee Fincher is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. The seat was vacated by retiring Democratic incumbent John S. Tanner. Fincher defeated Democratic Tennessee state senator Roy Herron in the 2010 mid-term Congressional general election.- Early life...
, 8th DistrictTennessee's 8th congressional districtThe 8th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Tennessee. It currently includes roughly the northwestern part of the state....
Statewide offices
- Governor: Bill HaslamBill HaslamWilliam Edward "Bill" Haslam is the 49th and current Governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam was elected to office in 2010...
- Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant Governor of TennesseeThe Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee is the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the U.S...
: Ron RamseyRon RamseyRonald Lynn "Ron" Ramsey is the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the State Senate. A Republican from Blountville in East Tennessee, Ramsey succeeded long-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor John S...
Legislative leadershipTennessee General AssemblyThe Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
- Speaker of the Senate/Lt. GovernorLieutenant Governor of TennesseeThe Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee is the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the U.S...
: Ron RamseyRon RamseyRonald Lynn "Ron" Ramsey is the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the State Senate. A Republican from Blountville in East Tennessee, Ramsey succeeded long-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor John S... - Speaker of the House: Beth HarwellBeth HarwellBeth Halteman Harwell is the current Speaker of the House in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She serves as Tennessee State Representative from Nashville and former Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 2001 through 2004...
Notable Tennessee Republicans
- Fred Thompson
- Bill FristBill FristWilliam Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
- Don SundquistDon SundquistDonald Kenneth Sundquist is a former governor and congressman from Tennessee. A Republican, he served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003...
- Howard BakerHoward BakerHoward Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
- Bill BrockBill BrockWilliam Emerson "Bill" Brock III is a former Republican United States senator from Tennessee, having served from 1971 to 1977. He is the grandson of William Emerson Brock I, who was a Democratic U.S. senator from Tennessee from 1929 to 1931.-Early life and career:Brock was a native of Chattanooga,...
- Winfield DunnWinfield DunnBryant Winfield Culberson Dunn was the 43rd Governor of Tennessee, from 1971 to 1975.-Biography:Dunn was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis in 1955 with a D.D.S. Dunn...
Controversial comment
In 2008, the Tennessee Republican Party issued a press release that featured a photo of Senator Obama dressed in traditional Kenya clothing that the TN GOP called "Muslim attire" and used Obama's middle name "Hussein." Both Senator John McCain and State Democratic Chairman Gray Sasser denounced the press release.Controversial elections
In the 2000 presidential election the Republicans wanted to embarrass the Tennessee native and president hopeful Al Gore in his home state. The strategy that he Republicans used was to portray Gore as an outsider that lost contact with the "Volunteer State" and that his views differed from before. The National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
joined the fight against Gore when they started to campaign for GOP and posted pro-George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
billboards along the streets and highways. Throughout the campaign it was a dog fight but in the end the Republican Party had won Tennessee. 2,076,155 voters turned out in Tennessee and Bush won with 51.1% of the popular vote.
Past elections
Since 1972 the Republican Party has won Tennessee in 7 out of 10 elections. It won Tennessee in '72, '80, '84, '88, '00, 02, '04, '08.Past Republican Governors
-Edward H. East 1865-William G. Brownlow 1865-1869
-Dewitt C. Senter 1869-1871
-Alvin Hawkins 1881-1883
-Ben W. Hooper 1911-1915
-Alfred A. Taylor 1921-1923
-Winfield Dunn 1971-1975
-Lamar Alexander 1979-1987
-Don Sundquist 1995-2003
-Bill Haslam 2011-Present
Coalitions
- African American Development Council
- College Republicans
- Republican Jewish Coalition
- Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Tennessee
- Teenage Republicans
- Young Republicans
- Republican Women
Former Chairmen
- Jim Burnett, from 1995 to 1999.
- Chip SaltsmanChip SaltsmanJohn "Chip" Saltsman, Jr. is an American politician who has served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 1999 to 2001, senior political advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and manager of Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign...
, from 1999 to 2001. - Beth HarwellBeth HarwellBeth Halteman Harwell is the current Speaker of the House in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She serves as Tennessee State Representative from Nashville and former Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 2001 through 2004...
, from 2001 through 2004. - Bob Davis, from 2005 to August 2007.
- Robin Smith, from 2007 to May 30, 2009.
- Chris Devaney, 2009–present