2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election
The 2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican Governor Bill Lee was re-elected to a second term with 64.9% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger Jason Martin. Lee improved on his performance from 2018.
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| Turnout | 38.61% 15.85 pp | ||||||||||||||||
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Lee: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Martin: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Tennessee |
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| Government |
The primary elections took place on August 4, 2022, with Lee and Martin winning their respective parties' nominations.
During the general election, Lee flipped reliably Democratic Haywood County, home to Brownsville. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee, along with Shelby County, with a majority African-American population. Haywood County has not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1972. Martin won only Shelby and Davidson Counties. This was also the first time in state history where Davidson County did not vote for the winner in a gubernatorial re-election since Tennessee began allowing governors to serve for two consecutive terms.
Voter turnout for the 2022 midterm elections in Tennessee was the lowest it has been in nearly a decade, with only 38.6% of Tennessee's registered voters turning out. The last time turnout was this low in Tennessee was in the 2014 midterm elections. This turnout was far below the 2020 presidential election in Tennessee, which saw a turnout of 69.3%. Tennessee's neighboring state Alabama saw a significant drop in voter turnout as well, with only 38.5% of Alabamians turning out to vote this midterm cycle.
Bill Lee was sworn in for his second term on January 21, 2023.