1990 United States Senate election in Tennessee

In 1984, despite Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the concurrent presidential election,^[1] Al Gore flipped an open Senate seat held by retiring Republican Howard Baker,^[2] defeating Republican Victor Ashe with a little over 60% of the vote. By contrast, Reagan won Tennessee in the presidential election with 58% of the vote to 42% for Democratic candidate Walter Mondale.^[3]

The 1990 election was held as part of the midterm election cycle of Republican President George H. W. Bush's term.^[4] Historically, the President's party struggles during the midterms.^[5] Gore was one of several politicians who were seen as likely candidates for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination up for reelection.^[6]

• Al Gore (Democrat), incumbent Senator^[7]
• William R. Hawkins (Republican), conservative author^[7][8]

Primary elections were held on August 2, 1990. Just under 25% of Tennessee's 2.5 million registered voters voted in the primary elections. State elections coordinator Will Burns said the turnout rate was "pretty dismal".^[9]

Hawkins's campaign was poorly funded;^[13][14] he only had $3,000 to fund his primary run, while Gore had begun the campaign with around $1,000,000.^[7] Two weeks before election day Hawkins had raised $12,000 to Gore's $2,000,000.^[13][15] Hawkins' campaign ended with zero cash on hand while Gore had just over $700,000 left.^[16]

Hawkins stated that he wanted to run the most "issue-orientated campaign Tennessee has ever seen." He criticized Gore's liberal views, including his stance on the death penalty and his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1990.^[7] Despite Gore being more pro-military than most Democrats, Hawkins criticized him for being "soft on defense".^[17] Hawkins noted that the federal deficit had increased under policy's that Gore had voted for.^[11][17] He stated that if elected he would work to cut taxes and reduce government spending.^[11]

The staff of The Jackson Sun characterized Tennessee's election cycle as boring, noting the likelihood of Gore and incumbent Governor Ned McWherter being reelected, writing, "the gubernatorial and senatorial races are a yawn".^[18] Republican Representative Don Sundquist felt that the Hawkins was a weak candidate and that Republicans would likely have a better chance of taking the seat in the 1996 election.^[19]

On October 29, 1990, roughly two weeks before election day, Hawkins admitted that his campaign "failed to generate excitement" and acknowledged the relative obscurity of his campaign even within Republican groups.^[15] However, the staff of The Commercial Appeal noted that Gore would have some difficulty with his bid due to the conservative lean of Tennessee and his liberal voting record.^[20]

Gore was unable to make in person campaign visits for much of the race due to his role in Congress. The campaign ran a single sixty second television advertisement. In the final few days of the campaign, Gore visited several locations in Memphis, Tennessee and ran a half hour long television special in all major markets throughout the state. Gore's press secretary said the special cost around $20,000-$30,000 and was produced by the firm Squier-Eskew-Knapp advertising firm. On the contrary, Hawkins canceled his planned statewide press conferences and was unable to air radio ads he had recorded due to budgetary constraints. Hawkins had planned to host a fundraising dinner, however he had to cancel the dinner after the organizer of the event died.^[13]

On January 3, 1991, Gore was sworn in to the 102nd United States Congress by then–Vice President Dan Quayle alongside his fellow Senators-elect.^[29] After being elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election, Gore resigned from his Senate seat on January 2, 1993. Harlan Mathews was appointed to replace him by Governor Ned McWherter.^[30] In the 1994 special election for the seat, the remainder of Gore's term was won by Republican Fred Thompson who defeated Democratic Representative Jim Cooper for Tennessee's 4th congressional district.^[31]

As of the 2024 election cycle, this was the last time the Democrats won a Senate election in Tennessee.^[32] It is the most recent Senate election in Tennessee in which several counties, including Knox County and Hamilton County, voted for the Democratic candidate.^[33] Beginning with the 1994 elections the Democratic party struggled in the state.^[34]