AP Decision Note: What to expect in Tennessee on Election Day
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tennessee voters will weigh in on the race for the White House in the Nov. 5 election, as well as races for Congress and the state Legislature.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will compete for 11 electoral votes in a state that has supported the Republican nominee in the last six elections. That streak began in 2000, when then-Vice President Al Gore lost his home state to Republican George W. Bush. Tennessee was once a reliable presidential bellwether, having voted for every winning candidate from Democrat Lyndon Johnson through Bush's reelection, but today it is safe Republican territory. Trump won in 2020 by a 23 point margin.
Five independent candidates also appear on the presidential ballot, including Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump.
The only other statewide race on the ballot is for the U.S. Senate, where Republican incumbent Marsha Blackburn is seeking a second term against Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson. Johnson is a member of the “Tennessee Three,” a group of state representatives whose colleagues attempted to expel them from the chamber after they joined a protest for gun control on the chamber floor in 2023.
In the state Legislature, about half of Tennessee's 33 state Senate seats and all 99 state House seats are up for election. Republicans hold lopsided supermajorities in both chambers that are not at risk in November.
The Associated Press doesn’t make projections and will declare a winner only when it has determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race hasn’t been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, like candidate concessions or...