2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

For related races, see 2010 United States House of Representatives elections.

Not to be confused with 2010 Tennessee House of Representatives election.

The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 2, 2010, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts.

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

← 2008 November 2, 2010 (2010-11-02) 2012 →
All 9 Tennessee seats to the United States House of Representatives
Turnout	41.32% [1] 25.02 pp
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 4 5 Seats won 7 2 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 955,078 541,527 Percentage 61.26% 34.73% Swing 18.83% 17.24%
Party gains District results County results      Republican hold      Republican gain      Democratic hold Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Democratic   40–50%   50–60%   70–80%

During the general elections, the Republicans flipped Tennessee's 4th, 6th, and 8th congressional districts, which changed Tennessee's House delegation from a 5-4 Democratic majority to a 7-2 Republican majority.

Overview

District results by precinct

United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, 2010[2]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats Before	Seats After	+/–
	Republican	955,078	61.26%	4	7	3
	Democratic	541,527	34.73%	5	2	3
	Independent	62,515	4.01%	0	0	0
	Write-in	9	0.00%	0	0	0
Totals		1,559,129	100.00%	9	9	—

Popular vote Republican   61.26% Democratic   34.73% Other   4.01%

House seats Republican   77.78% Democratic   22.22%

By district

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee by district:^[3]

District	Republican		Democratic		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	123,006	80.84%	26,045	17.12%	3,110	2.04%	152,161	100.0%	Republican hold
District 2	141,796	81.78%	25,400	14.65%	6,184	3.57%	173,380	100.0%	Republican hold
District 3	92,032	56.79%	45,387	28.01%	24,637	15.20%	162,056	100.0%	Republican hold
District 4	103,969	57.07%	70,254	38.56%	7,968	4.37%	182,191	100.0%	Republican gain
District 5	74,204	42.07%	99,162	56.23%	2,996	1.70%	176,362	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 6	128,517	67.26%	56,145	29.38%	6,422	3.36%	191,084	100.0%	Republican gain
District 7	158,916	72.37%	54,347	24.75%	6,320	2.88%	219,583	100.0%	Republican hold
District 8	98,759	58.99%	64,960	38.80%	3,686	2.20%	167,405	100.0%	Republican gain
District 9	33,879	25.11%	99,827	74.00%	1,201	0.89%	134,907	100.0%	Democratic hold
Total	955,078	61.26%	541,527	34.73%	62,524	4.01%	1,559,129	100.0%

District 1

See also: Tennessee's 1st congressional district

This district covers 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. It had been represented by Republican Phil Roe since 2009. The winner of the GOP primary was all but assured of representing the district in Congress as this is one of the safest seats for the GOP; it had held the seat continuously since 1881 and, since prior to the Civil War, the GOP or its predecessors had held the seat for all but four years.

Democratic primary

• Michael Clark

Democratic primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Clark	9,012	100.0
Total votes			9,012	100.0

Republican primary

• Phil Roe, incumbent
• Mahmood "Michael" Sabri

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phil Roe (incumbent)	78,862	95.7
	Republican	Mahmood "Michael" Sabri	3,546	4.3
Total votes			82,408	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phil Roe (incumbent)	123,006	80.84%
	Democratic	Michael Clark	26,045	17.12%
	Independent	Kermit Steck	3,110	2.04%
Total votes			152,161	100.0%
	Republican hold

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

District 2

See also: Tennessee's 2nd congressional district

This district lies in the east central part of the state, based in Knoxville and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It had been represented by Republican Jimmy Duncan since November, 1988. The winner of the GOP primary was all but assured of representing the district in Congress as this was one of the safest seats for the GOP (even safer than the neighboring First District); the GOP or its predecessors had held the seat continuously since prior to the Civil War.

Democratic primary

• Dave Hancock

Democratic primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dave Hancock	9,778	100.0
Total votes			9,778	100.0

Republican primary

• Jimmy Duncan, incumbent

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Duncan (incumbent)	92,414	100.0
Total votes			92,414	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Duncan (incumbent)	141,796	81.78%
	Democratic	Dave Hancock	25,400	14.65%
	Independent	Joseph R. Leinweber Jr.	2,497	1.44%
	Independent	D.H. "Andy" Andrew	1,993	1.15%
	Independent	Greg Samples	1,185	0.68%
	Independent	H. James Headings	509	0.30%
Total votes			173,380	100.0%
	Republican hold

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

District 3

See also: Tennessee's 3rd congressional district

Republican Representative Zach Wamp announced that he would be running for governor in 2010, leaving the third district open.^[13]

Democratic primary

• Alicia Mitchell
• Brenda Freeman Short
• Brent Davis Staton
• John Wolfe Jr., attorney and perennial candidate
• Larry J. Abeare Sr (write-in)

Democratic primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Wolfe Jr.	7,006	38.92
	Democratic	Brenda Freeman Short	4,530	25.17
	Democratic	Brent Davis Staton	4,530	21.19
	Democratic	Alicia Mitchell	2,647	14.71
	Democratic	Larry J. Abeare, Sr. (write-in)	3	0.01
Total votes			18,000	100.0

Republican primary

• Tommy Crangle
• Chuck Fleischmann, attorney
• Tim Gobble
• Harvey Howard
• Jean Howard-Hill
• Van Irion
• Rick Kernea
• Basil Marceaux, perennial candidate
• Art Rhodes
• Robin Smith, former TNGOP Chairwoman^[14]
• Grover Travillian

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chuck Fleischmann	26,869	29.67
	Republican	Robin Smith	25,454	28.11
	Republican	Tim Gobble	14,274	15.76
	Republican	Van Irion	10,492	11.59
	Republican	Tommy Crangle	5,149	5.69
	Republican	Art Rhodes	4,552	5.03
	Republican	Jean Howard-Hill	1,259	1.39
	Republican	Rick Kernea	739	0.82
	Republican	Harvey Howard	670	0.74
	Republican	Basil Marceaux	655	0.72
	Republican	Grover Travillian	440	0.48
Total votes			90,553	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chuck Fleischmann	92,032	56.79%
	Democratic	John Wolfe Jr.	45,387	28.01%
	Independent	Savas T. Kyriakidis	17,077	10.54%
	Independent	Mark DeVol	5,773	3.56%
	Independent	Don Barkman	811	0.50%
	Independent	Gregory C. Goodwin	380	0.23%
	Independent	Robert Humphries	380	0.23%
	Independent	Mo Kiah	216	0.14%
Total votes			162,056	100.0%
	Republican hold

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

District 4

See also: Tennessee's 4th congressional district

Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis ran for re-election, challenged by Republican nominee Scott DesJarlais, a physician in Jasper, and Independents Paul H. Curtis (PVS), James Gray (campaign site, PVS), Richard S. Johnson (PVS), and Gerald York (campaign site, PVS).

Davis had represented the district since 2003. He turned down a run for governor, deciding to run for re-election instead.^[15]

This district lies in Middle and East Tennessee.

Scott DesJarlais (R) won the election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Tossup	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Tilt R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Tossup	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Tossup	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Tossup	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 4th congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott DesJarlais	103,969	57.07%
	Democratic	Lincoln Davis	70,254	38.56%
	Independents (politician)	Others	7,968	4.37%
Total votes			182,191	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 5

See also: Tennessee's 5th congressional district

This district lies in Middle Tennessee, including almost all of Davidson County, half of Wilson County, and half of Cheatham County. Nearly two-thirds of the district's voting population lives in Nashville. It had been represented by Democrat Jim Cooper since 2003.

Jim Cooper (D) won re-election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Likely D	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Likely D	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe D	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe D	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 5th congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Cooper	99,162	56.23%
	Republican	David Hall	74,204	42.07%
	Independents (politician)	Others	2,996	1.70%
Total votes			176,362	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 6

See also: Tennessee's 6th congressional district

This district lies in Middle Tennessee, including 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. It had been represented by Democrat Bart Gordon since 1985. Gordon announced on December 14, 2009, that he would not be seeking another term, leaving the sixth district open.^[15]

State Senator Jim Tracy, State Senator Diane Black, Rutherford County Republican Chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik, United States Army Reserve Major General Dave Evans, realtor Gary Mann, and businessman Kerry Roberts ran for the Republican nomination.^[16] Democratic candidates included lawyer and Iraq veteran Brett Carter, aviation safety inspector George Erdel, ex-marine Ben Leming, Henry Barry, and Devora Butler.

The nominees were Brett Carter (D) and Diane Black (R).

Diane Black (R) won the election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe R (flip)	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R (flip)	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R (flip)	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 6th congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Diane Black	128,517	67.26%
	Democratic	Brett Carter	56,145	29.38%
	Independents (politician)	Others	6,422	3.36%
Total votes			191,084	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 7

See also: Tennessee's 7th congressional district

This district lies in Middle and southwestern Tennessee, connecting suburbs of Memphis and Nashville. It had been represented by Republican Marsha Blackburn since 2003. She faced a challenge from Austin Peay University professor and Democrat Dr. Greg Rabidoux.^[17]

Marsha Blackburn (R) won re-election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 1st congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marsha Blackburn (incumbent)	158,916	72.37%
	Democratic	Greg Rabidoux	54,347	24.75%
	Independents (politician)	Others	6,320	2.88%
Total votes			219,583	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 8

See also: Tennessee's 8th congressional district

Democratic incumbent John S. Tanner, who had represented the district since 1989, announced his retirement in December 2009 leaving the eighth district open.^[15]

Steve Fincher was the Republican nominee,^[18] and State Senator Roy Herron was the Democratic nominee.^[19] Also on the ballot are Tea Party candidate Donn Janes (campaign site, PVS), who earlier dropped out of the Republican primary, and Independent Mark J. Rawles (campaign site, PVS).^[20]

This district covers roughly the northwestern part of the state.

Stephen Fincher (R) won the election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

Endorsements

Herron had been endorsed by the state's two largest newspapers, the Memphis Commercial Appeal^[21] and the Nashville Tennessean.^[22]

Fincher had been endorsed by former Governor Winfield Dunn, Citizens United, Eagle Forum, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and State Senator Dolores Gresham.^[23]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Likely R (flip)	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe R (flip)	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe R (flip)	November 1, 2010

Polling

Poll Source	Dates Administered	Stephen Fincher (R)	Roy Herron (D)	Donn Janes (I)	Undecided
Memphisnewsblog.com[24]	August 10–11, 2010	47%	37%	5%	11%

General election

2010 Tennessee's 8th congressional district election^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Fincher	98,759	58.99%
	Democratic	Roy Herron	64,960	38.80%
	Independents (politician)	Others	3,686	2.20%
Total votes			167,405	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

By county

County[25]	Stephen Fincher Republican		Roy Herron Democratic		Other votes
	%	#	%	#	%	#
Benton	50.79%	2,525	47.74%	2,373	1.47%	73
Carroll	64.70%	5,258	34.60%	2,856	1.70%	140
Crockett	77.24%	3,360	21.75%	946	1.01%	44
Dickson	77.24%	7,512	21.75%	3,959	1.01%	316
Gibson	63.99%	9,230	33.80%	4,875	2.22%	320
Haywood	47.69%	2,524	51.16%	2,708	1.15%	61
Henry	58.54%	5,460	39.55%	3,689	1.91%	178
Houston	48.01%	991	49.66%	1,025	2.33%	48
Humphreys	52.23%	2,536	45.11%	2,190	2.66%	129
Lake	47.55%	651	51.13%	700	1.31%	18
Lauderdale	60.63%	3,611	37.98%	2,262	1.39%	83
Madison	57.11%	15,939	40.74%	11,372	2.15%	600
Montgomery	57.32%	4,120	39.29%	2,824	3.39%	244
Obion	58.15%	5,363	40.40%	3,726	1.45%	134
Shelby	35.85%	4,468	62.16%	7,747	1.98%	247
Stewart	52.99%	1,967	44.32%	1,645	2.69%	100
Tipton	69.65%	10,628	26.15%	3,991	4.20%	641
Weakley	59.75%	5,575	38.73%	3,614	1.52%	142

District 9

See also: Tennessee's 9th congressional district

This district lies in southwestern Tennessee, located entirely within Shelby County and including most of the city of Memphis. It had been represented by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007. The Republicans nominated Charlotte Bergmann, who owns a Memphis-based marketing firm, Effective PMP, LLC.

Steve Cohen (D) won re-election.

• Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Race profile at The New York Times

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg[7]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
RCP[9]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics[10]	Safe D	October 28, 2010
New York Times[11]	Safe D	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight[11]	Safe D	November 1, 2010

Tennessee's 5th congressional district, 2010^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Cohen (incumbent)	99,827	74.00%
	Republican	Charlotte Bergmann	33,879	25.11%
	Independents (politician)	Others	1,201	0.89%
Total votes			134,907	100.0%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 2010 Tennessee elections
• 2010 United States elections