2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election
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The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Don Sundquist was term-limited and prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. Former Democratic Nashville mayor Phil Bredesen was elected with 50.7% of the vote, narrowly defeating Republican nominee and U.S. Representative Van Hilleary.[2] As of 2026, this is the last Tennessee gubernatorial race where the winner received less than 59% of votes.
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November 5, 2002
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| Turnout | 50.40%  [1] 17.87 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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  Bredesen: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Hilleary: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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With Bredesen's victory, the Tennessee Democratic Party regained a state government trifecta, with Democrats also controlling both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly.
Campaign
Phil Bredesen promised to manage state government better, improve Tennessee's schools and use his experience as a managed-care executive to fix TennCare, which had created a critical budget shortfall toward the end of Sundquist's term. His reputation as a moderate Democrat was well established (he was a member of the "good government" faction of the Nashville Democratic Party), so Hilleary's attempts to brand him as a liberal ultimately failed. Republicans also suffered from governor Don Sundquist's unpopular attempts to implement a state income tax.[3] Bredesen garnered more support in East Tennessee than was usual for a Democrat, especially one from Nashville.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Jim Henry, former minority leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives
- Van Hilleary, representative from Tennessee's 4th congressional district
- Dave Kelley
- Jessie D. McDonald
- Bob Tripp
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Van Hilleary | 343,543 | 64.31% | |
| Republican | Jim Henry | 159,862 | 29.92% | |
| Republican | Bob Tripp | 17,156 | 3.21% | |
| Republican | Dave Kelley | 8,581 | 1.61% | |
| Republican | Jessie D. McDonald | 4,682 | 0.88% | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 389 | 0.07% | |
| Total votes | 534,213 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
- L. Best
- Phil Bredesen, former mayor of Nashville, 1994 Democratic nominee for governor
- Charles V. Brown
- Floyd R. Conover
- Randy Nichols, Knox County district attorney general
- Charles E. Smith, former Tennessee commissioner of education
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Phil Bredesen | 426,418 | 79.05% | |
| Democratic | Randy Nichols | 38,322 | 7.10% | |
| Democratic | Charles E. Smith | 34,547 | 6.40% | |
| Democratic | Charles V. Brown | 17,506 | 3.25% | |
| Democratic | L. Best | 16,007 | 2.97% | |
| Democratic | Floyd R. Conover | 6,218 | 1.15% | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 420 | 0.08% | |
| Total votes | 539,438 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
Major
- Phil Bredesen (D)
- Van Hilleary (R)
- Edwin C. Sanders (I)
- Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I)
- John Jay Hooker (I)
- David Gatchell (I)
- Gabriel Givens (I)
- Ray Ledford (I)
- James E. Herren (I)
- Charles V. Wilhoit Jr. (I)
- Marivuana Stout Leinoff (I)
- Francis E. Waldron (I)
- Ronny Simmons (I)
- Robert O. Watson (I)
- Basil Marceaux (I)
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[6] | Tossup | October 31, 2002 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Lean D (flip) | November 4, 2002 |
Polling
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Phil Bredesen | 837,284 | 50.65% | +21.17% | |
| Republican | Van Hilleary | 786,803 | 47.59% | −21.03% | |
| Independent | Edwin C. Sanders | 7,749 | 0.47% | N/A | |
| Independent | Carl Two Feathers Whitaker | 5,308 | 0.32% | N/A | |
| Independent | John Jay Hooker | 4,577 | 0.28% | N/A | |
| Independent | David Gatchell | 2,991 | 0.18% | N/A | |
| Independent | Gabriel Givens | 1,591 | 0.10% | N/A | |
| Independent | Ray Ledford | 1,589 | 0.10% | N/A | |
| Independent | James E. Herren | 1,210 | 0.07% | N/A | |
| Independent | Charles V. Wilhoit, Jr. | 898 | 0.05% | N/A | |
| Independent | Marivuana Stout Leinoff | 645 | 0.04% | N/A | |
| Independent | Francis E. Waldron | 635 | 0.04% | N/A | |
| Independent | Ronny Simmons | 630 | 0.04% | N/A | |
| Independent | Robert O. Watson | 579 | 0.04% | N/A | |
| Independent | Basil Marceaux | 302 | 0.02% | N/A | |
| Write-ins | 376 | 0.02% | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 1,653,167 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
By county
| County[10] | Phil Bredesen Democratic |
Van Hilleary Republican |
Others Independent |
Margin | Total votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | # | % | # | % | # | |||
| Anderson | 54.5% | 12,526 | 44.1% | 10,153 | 1.4% | 318 | 2,373 | 22,997 |
| Bedford | 50.4% | 5,098 | 48.1% | 4,860 | 1.5% | 156 | 238 | 10,114 |
| Benton | 64.7% | 3,640 | 33.1% | 1,863 | 2.2% | 124 | 1,777 | 5,627 |
| Bledsoe | 48.2% | 1,722 | 50.2% | 1,795 | 1.6% | 58 | -73 | 3,575 |
| Blount | 42.5% | 13,908 | 55.6% | 18,189 | 1.9% | 609 | -4,281 | 32,706 |
| Bradley | 37.6% | 9,178 | 60.4% | 14,756 | 2.0% | 506 | -5,578 | 24,440 |
| Campbell | 54.3% | 5,020 | 44.7% | 4,129 | 1.0% | 95 | 891 | 9,244 |
| Cannon | 57.8% | 2,346 | 40.8% | 1,654 | 1.4% | 57 | 692 | 4,057 |
| Carroll | 54.4% | 4,957 | 43.7% | 3,982 | 1.9% | 180 | 975 | 9,119 |
| Carter | 37.1% | 5,877 | 60.9% | 9,656 | 2.0% | 329 | -3,779 | 15,862 |
| Cheatham | 50.2% | 5,538 | 48.0% | 5,305 | 1.8% | 198 | 233 | 11,041 |
| Chester | 42.1% | 1,900 | 56.3% | 2,544 | 1.6% | 72 | -644 | 4,516 |
| Claiborne | 49.2% | 3,469 | 49.4% | 3,483 | 1.4% | 93 | -14 | 7,045 |
| Clay | 59.7% | 1,436 | 38.7% | 932 | 1.6% | 39 | 504 | 2,407 |
| Cocke | 49.5% | 4,219 | 48.3% | 4,114 | 2.2% | 191 | 105 | 8,524 |
| Coffee | 50.5% | 7,613 | 48.4% | 7,286 | 1.1% | 162 | 327 | 15,061 |
| Crockett | 52.6% | 2,265 | 45.3% | 1,951 | 2.1% | 88 | 314 | 4,304 |
| Cumberland | 44.0% | 7,437 | 54.6% | 9,235 | 1.4% | 239 | -1,798 | 16,911 |
| Davidson | 58.5% | 97,048 | 38.1% | 63,176 | 3.4% | 5,673 | 33,872 | 165,897 |
| Decatur | 56.6% | 2,375 | 41.4% | 1,738 | 2.0% | 81 | 637 | 4,194 |
| DeKalb | 58.4% | 2,929 | 40.4% | 2,025 | 1.2% | 63 | 904 | 5,017 |
| Dickson | 57.0% | 7,810 | 41.4% | 5,673 | 1.6% | 217 | 2,137 | 13,700 |
| Dyer | 50.7% | 5,114 | 47.0% | 4,740 | 2.3% | 227 | 374 | 10,081 |
| Fayette | 41.0% | 3,798 | 57.2% | 5,306 | 1.8% | 166 | -1,508 | 9,270 |
| Fentress | 42.8% | 2,155 | 56.3% | 2,832 | 0.9% | 43 | -677 | 5,030 |
| Franklin | 53.3% | 6,312 | 45.3% | 5,364 | 1.4% | 159 | 948 | 11,835 |
| Gibson | 52.6% | 7,700 | 45.4% | 6,639 | 2.0% | 289 | 1,061 | 14,628 |
| Giles | 52.9% | 4,167 | 45.9% | 3,616 | 1.2% | 100 | 551 | 7,883 |
| Grainger | 45.8% | 2,432 | 52.9% | 2,809 | 1.3% | 74 | -377 | 5,315 |
| Greene | 41.4% | 6,739 | 57.0% | 9,280 | 1.6% | 252 | -2,541 | 16,271 |
| Grundy | 67.8% | 2,524 | 31.0% | 1,154 | 1.2% | 42 | 1,370 | 3,720 |
| Hamblen | 44.4% | 7,424 | 54.3% | 9,069 | 1.3% | 223 | -1,645 | 16,716 |
| Hamilton | 46.3% | 40,864 | 52.3% | 46,109 | 1.4% | 1,210 | -5,245 | 88,183 |
| Hancock | 42.3% | 829 | 56.0% | 1,097 | 1.7% | 32 | -268 | 1,958 |
| Hardeman | 56.5% | 3,891 | 41.0% | 2,822 | 2.5% | 172 | 1,069 | 6,885 |
| Hardin | 48.1% | 3,594 | 51.1% | 3,820 | 0.8% | 62 | -226 | 7,476 |
| Hawkins | 42.0% | 5,921 | 56.0% | 7,893 | 2.0% | 269 | -1,972 | 14,083 |
| Haywood | 59.3% | 3,028 | 38.9% | 1,986 | 1.8% | 90 | 1,042 | 5,104 |
| Henderson | 43.2% | 3,098 | 54.8% | 3,933 | 2.0% | 142 | -835 | 7,173 |
| Henry | 59.8% | 5,672 | 37.9% | 3,598 | 2.3% | 212 | 2,074 | 9,482 |
| Hickman | 60.3% | 3,931 | 38.0% | 2,477 | 1.7% | 106 | 1,454 | 6,514 |
| Houston | 71.1% | 1,970 | 27.1% | 750 | 1.8% | 50 | 1,220 | 2,770 |
| Humphreys | 65.0% | 3,944 | 33.3% | 2,023 | 1.7% | 99 | 1,921 | 6,066 |
| Jackson | 67.5% | 2,483 | 30.8% | 1,135 | 1.7% | 62 | 1,348 | 3,680 |
| Jefferson | 44.4% | 5,293 | 54.1% | 6,453 | 1.5% | 176 | -1,160 | 11,922 |
| Johnson | 36.3% | 1,641 | 62.0% | 2,802 | 1.7% | 77 | -1,161 | 4,520 |
| Knox | 49.4% | 57,726 | 49.4% | 57,683 | 1.2% | 1,443 | 43 | 116,852 |
| Lake | 71.1% | 1,128 | 25.2% | 400 | 3.7% | 58 | 728 | 1,586 |
| Lauderdale | 56.3% | 3,621 | 41.4% | 2,662 | 2.3% | 154 | 959 | 6,437 |
| Lawrence | 47.0% | 5,835 | 51.8% | 6,430 | 1.2% | 155 | -595 | 12,420 |
| Lewis | 53.0% | 2,026 | 44.5% | 1,700 | 2.5% | 95 | 326 | 3,821 |
| Lincoln | 43.1% | 3,808 | 55.2% | 4,877 | 1.7% | 146 | -1,069 | 8,831 |
| Loudon | 42.3% | 5,995 | 56.7% | 8,036 | 1.0% | 149 | -2,041 | 14,180 |
| Macon | 49.7% | 2,554 | 48.9% | 2,516 | 1.4% | 70 | 38 | 5,140 |
| Madison | 48.9% | 13,614 | 49.5% | 13,770 | 1.6% | 462 | -156 | 27,846 |
| Marion | 60.3% | 4,856 | 38.0% | 3,062 | 1.7% | 136 | 1,794 | 8,054 |
| Marshall | 57.5% | 4,323 | 40.7% | 3,065 | 1.8% | 136 | 1,258 | 7,524 |
| Maury | 52.8% | 10,862 | 45.3% | 9,313 | 1.9% | 378 | 1,549 | 20,553 |
| McMinn | 43.6% | 5,919 | 54.5% | 7,407 | 1.9% | 261 | -1,488 | 13,587 |
| McNairy | 48.0% | 3,677 | 50.3% | 3,849 | 1.7% | 131 | -172 | 7,657 |
| Meigs | 52.7% | 1,486 | 45.5% | 1,282 | 1.8% | 51 | 204 | 2,819 |
| Monroe | 46.3% | 5,081 | 52.1% | 5,709 | 1.6% | 174 | -628 | 10,964 |
| Montgomery | 58.5% | 18,714 | 39.8% | 12,723 | 1.7% | 561 | 5,991 | 31,998 |
| Moore | 45.9% | 950 | 51.7% | 1,070 | 2.4% | 51 | -120 | 2,071 |
| Morgan | 57.7% | 3,128 | 41.5% | 2,252 | 0.8% | 44 | 876 | 5,424 |
| Obion | 57.7% | 5,928 | 39.7% | 4,083 | 2.6% | 261 | 1,845 | 10,272 |
| Overton | 65.7% | 4,027 | 32.6% | 1,999 | 1.7% | 99 | 2,028 | 6,125 |
| Perry | 59.8% | 1,379 | 37.8% | 871 | 2.4% | 56 | 508 | 2,306 |
| Pickett | 40.1% | 831 | 59.0% | 1,221 | 0.9% | 19 | -390 | 2,071 |
| Polk | 56.0% | 2,539 | 42.4% | 1,925 | 1.6% | 71 | 614 | 4,535 |
| Putnam | 54.4% | 10,241 | 43.8% | 8,241 | 1.8% | 353 | 2,000 | 18,835 |
| Rhea | 33.3% | 2,727 | 65.7% | 5,383 | 1.0% | 80 | -2,656 | 8,190 |
| Roane | 56.1% | 9,873 | 42.5% | 7,478 | 1.4% | 261 | 2,395 | 17,612 |
| Robertson | 52.5% | 9,089 | 45.9% | 7,944 | 1.6% | 290 | 1,145 | 17,323 |
| Rutherford | 48.2% | 24,683 | 50.3% | 25,750 | 1.5% | 738 | -1,067 | 51,171 |
| Scott | 48.0% | 2,326 | 51.2% | 2,480 | 0.8% | 42 | -154 | 4,848 |
| Sequatchie | 55.4% | 2,020 | 43.4% | 1,582 | 1.2% | 42 | 438 | 3,644 |
| Sevier | 37.5% | 7,642 | 61.2% | 12,477 | 1.3% | 259 | -4,835 | 20,378 |
| Shelby | 56.1% | 133,084 | 42.2% | 100,261 | 1.7% | 4,048 | 32,823 | 237,393 |
| Smith | 63.0% | 3,741 | 35.1% | 2,086 | 1.9% | 113 | 1,655 | 5,940 |
| Stewart | 66.6% | 2,709 | 31.0% | 1,260 | 2.4% | 97 | 1,449 | 4,066 |
| Sullivan | 41.8% | 17,760 | 56.7% | 24,118 | 1.5% | 637 | -6,358 | 42,515 |
| Sumner | 47.8% | 19,860 | 50.7% | 21,032 | 1.5% | 626 | -1,172 | 41,518 |
| Tipton | 38.6% | 5,192 | 59.5% | 8,015 | 1.9% | 253 | -2,823 | 13,460 |
| Trousdale | 65.8% | 1,515 | 32.7% | 753 | 1.5% | 34 | 762 | 2,302 |
| Unicoi | 41.2% | 1,975 | 57.1% | 2,739 | 1.7% | 81 | -764 | 4,795 |
| Union | 49.3% | 2,307 | 49.5% | 2,319 | 1.2% | 55 | -12 | 4,681 |
| Van Buren | 63.3% | 1,178 | 35.2% | 654 | 1.5% | 28 | 524 | 1,860 |
| Warren | 59.3% | 7,137 | 39.4% | 4,743 | 1.3% | 157 | 2,394 | 12,037 |
| Washington | 40.3% | 12,012 | 58.0% | 17,290 | 1.8% | 533 | -5,278 | 29,835 |
| Wayne | 40.3% | 1,685 | 58.9% | 2,462 | 0.8% | 33 | -777 | 4,180 |
| Weakley | 54.4% | 5,821 | 43.7% | 4,680 | 1.9% | 205 | 1,141 | 10,706 |
| White | 49.8% | 3,653 | 48.6% | 3,564 | 1.6% | 111 | 89 | 7,328 |
| Williamson | 41.2% | 21,358 | 57.9% | 29,965 | 0.9% | 454 | -8,607 | 51,777 |
| Wilson | 48.3% | 14,854 | 50.1% | 15,416 | 1.6% | 507 | -562 | 30,777 |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Knox (largest city: Knoxville)
- Cocke (largest city: Newport)
- Anderson (largest city: Oak Ridge)
- Carroll (largest city: McKenzie)
- Cheatham (largest city: Ashland City)
- Coffee (largest city: Tullahoma)
- Dyer (largest city: Dyersburg)
- Maury (largest city: Columbia)
- Meigs (largest city: Decatur)
- Montgomery (largest city: Clarksville)
- Morgan (largest city: Coalfield)
- Obion (largest city: Union City)
- Polk (largest city: Benton)
- Putnam (largest city: Cookeville)
- Roane (largest city: Oak Ridge)
- Sequatchie (largest city: Dunlap)
- Bedford (largest city: Shelbyville)
- Campbell (largest city: LaFollette)
- Cannon (largest city: Woodbury)
- Crockett (largest city: Bells)
- Decatur (largest city: Parsons)
- DeKalb (largest city: Smithville)
- Dickson (largest city: Dickson)
- Franklin (largest city: Winchester)
- Gibson (largest city: Humboldt)
- Giles (largest city: Pulaski)
- Henry (largest city: Paris)
- Hickman (largest city: Centerville)
- Lewis (largest city: Hohenwald)
- Marion (largest city: Jasper)
- Marshall (largest city: Lewisburg)
- Robertson (largest city: Springfield)
- Warren (largest city: McMinnville)
- White (largest city: Sparta)
- Benton (largest municipality: Camden)
- Clay (largest municipality: Celina)
- Grundy (largest municipality: Altamont)
- Lauderdale (largest municipality: Ripley)
- Overton (largest municipality: Livingston)
- Perry (largest municipality: Linden)
- Smith (largest municipality: Carthage)
- Stewart (largest municipality: Dover)
- Trousdale (largest municipality: Hartsville)
- Haywood (largest city: Brownsville)
- Shelby (largest city: Memphis)
- Davidson (largest city: Nashville)
- Houston (largest city: Erin)
- Jackson (largest town: Gainesboro)
- Hardeman (largest city: Bolivar)
- Rhea (largest city: Dayton)
See also
- 2002 United States gubernatorial elections
- 2002 United States Senate election in Tennessee
- 2002 Tennessee elections
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear