1998 Tennessee gubernatorial election
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The 1998 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998, to elect the governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican governor Don Sundquist won re-election, defeating Democratic candidate John Jay Hooker.
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November 3, 1998
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| Turnout | 32.53%  [1] 24.09 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Sundquist: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Hooker: 40–50% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Sundquist became the first Republican gubernatorial nominee to get over 60% of the vote since Dewitt Clinton Senter did in 1869. Sundquist carried all but two counties (Lake and Van Buren).
Aftermath
Shortly after winning re-election, Sundquist implemented the ConnectTen program, which made Tennessee the first state in the nation to connect its schools and libraries to the Internet.[2]
Republican primary
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Sundquist (incumbent) | 358,786 | 92.50% | |
| Republican | Shirley Beck-Vosse | 28,951 | 7.46% | |
| Write-ins | 123 | 0.03% | ||
| Total votes | 387,860 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic primary
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John J. Hooker | 123,384 | 41.34% | |
| Democratic | Mike Whitaker | 83,542 | 27.99% | |
| Democratic | Sherry Whittenberg | 28,822 | 9.66% | |
| Democratic | Luther Best | 25,565 | 8.57% | |
| Democratic | Donald Jackson | 18,458 | 6.18% | |
| Democratic | Virginia Nyabongo | 12,352 | 4.14% | |
| Democratic | Jerral Parris | 5,740 | 1.92% | |
| Write-ins | 603 | 0.20% | ||
| Total votes | 298,466 | 100.00% | ||
General election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Don Sundquist (incumbent) | 669,973 | 68.63% | +14.36% | |
| Democratic | John Jay Hooker | 287,750 | 29.48% | −15.19% | |
| Independent | George Alexander Hamilton, Sr. | 5,899 | 0.60% | N/A | |
| Independent | Irwin W. Gibbs | 4,651 | 0.48% | N/A | |
| Independent | Thomas E. Smith II | 1,851 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| Independent | Karl Smithson | 1,841 | 0.19% | N/A | |
| N/A | Write-ins | 548 | 0.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 976,236 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||