The 2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 3, 2020, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate. The 2020 U.S. presidential election, and

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

were also held. As well as the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, and State House elections. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from ...

announced that he would not run for re-election on December 17, 2018. The former United States Ambassador to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Bill Hagerty won the open seat by a large margin against his Democratic opponent

Marquita Bradshaw Marquita Bradshaw (born January 19, 1974) is an American environmentalist, activist, and former political candidate. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee, the first African American woman to win a ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Bill Hagerty, businessman, former

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period between the ...

and former Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

Eliminated in the primary

*Cliff Adkins *Natisha Brooks * Byron Bush, dentist * Roy Dale Cope, small business owner and pharmacist * Terry Dicus, attorney * Tom Emerson, Jr., Tea Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 * George Flinn, Jr., former Shelby County commissioner, Nixon Administration Official, physician, engineer, businessman and Republican candidate in

Tennessee's 8th congressional district The 8th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican David Kustoff since January 2017. Current boundaries The district is located in West Tennessee. It borders Kentuck ...

in 2016 and 2018 * Jon Henry, U.S. Marine Corps veteran * Kent Morrell, business owner * Glen Neal, Jr., retired public servant * John Osborne, real estate agent and business owner * Aaron Pettigrew, truck driver * David Schuster, U.S. Navy veteran * Manny Sethi, orthopedic surgeon, director of the Vanderbilt Orthopedic Institute Center for Health Policy and founder and president of the non-profit Healthy Tennessee

Disqualified from the primary ballot

* Jim Elkins, Republican candidate for

Tennessee's 3rd congressional district The 3rd congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in East Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Chuck Fleischmann since January 2011. Current boundaries The district comprises two halves, joined together through ...

in 2020 * Johnny Presley, retired physician's assistant, hospital and clinic owner, farmer

Withdrawn

* Clyde Benson, army veteran and Republican candidate for District 39 of the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2016 * Larry Crim * Josh Gapp, physician ( running for TN-01) * Garrett "Lance" Nichols * Stokes Nielson, music industry executive and guitarist for

the Lost Trailers The Lost Trailers are an American country music band. Established in 2000, the band originally comprised Ryder Lee (lead vocals, keyboards), Manny Medina (guitar), Andrew Nielson (bass guitar), Stokes Nielson (vocals, lead guitar), and Jeff Potte ...

Declined

, incumbent U.S. Senator *

Mae Beavers Mae Beavers (born December 11, 1947 in Millport, Alabama) is an American politician and public servant. A Republican, she was a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 17th district from 2003 until she resigned to run for governor in August 2017. ...

, former state senator (endorsed Sethi) *

Diane Black Diane Lynn Black (née Warren; January 16, 1951) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from January 3, 2011, to January 3, 2019. The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. A Republican, ...

, former U.S. Representative for

Tennessee's 6th congressional district The 6th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican John Rose since January 2019. Current boundaries The district is located in north-central Tennessee and borders K ...

and candidate for Governor in 2018 *Randy Boyd, former Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, candidate for Governor in 2018, and President of the

University of Tennessee system The University of Tennessee system (UT system) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two public university systems, the other being the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). It consists of four primary campu ...

Bob Corker Robert Phillips Corker Jr. (born August 24, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Rela ...

, former U.S. Senator * Stephen Fincher, former U.S. Representative for

and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 * Chuck Fleischmann, U.S. Representative for

* Mark E. Green, U.S. Representative for

Tennessee's 7th congressional district The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of Middle and West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Mark E. Green since January 2019. Current boundaries The district is located in both W ...

and former state senator *

Tre Hargett Gus Lusk "Tré" Hargett III (born February 7, 1969) is an American Republican Party politician who is serving as the 37th Secretary of State of Tennessee since 2009. Early life and education He is the son of Tennessee Adjutant General Gus L. H ...

Tennessee Secretary of State The Tennessee Secretary of State is an office created by the Tennessee State Constitution. The Secretary of State is responsible for many of the administrative aspects of the operation of state government of Tennessee. The current Secretary of ...

Beth Harwell Beth Halteman Harwell (born July 24, 1957, in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is a member of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the former List of Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Speaker of the Tennessee Ho ...

, former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives and candidate for Governor in 2018 *

Bill Haslam William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...

, former

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

David Kustoff David Frank Kustoff (; born October 8, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States representative from . The district includes the bulk of West Tennessee, but most of its population is in the eastern part of the Me ...

, U.S. Representative for

and former

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with th ...

, retired NFL quarterback * Jeff Webb, businessman (endorsed Sethi)

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

, environmentalist

Eliminated in the primary

*Gary G. Davis, small business owner, baker, pilot, and perennial candidate *Robin Kimbrough Hayes, attorney and Christian minister *James Mackler, attorney, U.S. Army veteran and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018 *Mark Pickrell, entrepreneur, attorney and Baptist deacon

Disqualified from the primary ballot

* Tharon Chandler, journalist, economist, and conservationist

Withdrawn

* Diana C. Onyejiaka, college professor and consultant

Declined

Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...

, incumbent mayor of

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

and former state senator *

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...

, former

mayor of Nashville The Mayor of Nashville is the chief executive of Nashville Tennessee's government. The current mayor is John Cooper, a member of the Democratic party. Each mayor serves a term of four years, with a limit of two terms, unless this is interrupte ...

and

and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018 ''(endorsed James Mackler)'' *

John Ray Clemmons John Ray Clemmons (born July 14, 1977) is an American politician from the state of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he serves in the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing the 55th district, in West Nashville. Early lif ...

, state representative and candidate for

Mayor of Nashville The Mayor of Nashville is the chief executive of Nashville Tennessee's government. The current mayor is John Cooper, a member of the Democratic party. Each mayor serves a term of four years, with a limit of two terms, unless this is interrupte ...

in 2019 *

Karl Dean Karl Foster Dean (born September 20, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 6th Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill P ...

, former

and nominee for

in 2018 *

Sara Kyle Sara Peery Kyle (born October 21, 1952) is an American attorney and politician, and currently represents the 30th district in the Tennessee Senate. She became the second woman to elected to statewide office in Tennessee when she won the race fo ...

, incumbent state senator *

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

, singer-songwriter * Jason Powell, State Representative, real estate agent, non-profit manager *

Madeline Rogero Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office and the first woman to be elected mayor in any of the Big Fo ...

, former mayor of

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

*Renata Soto, executive director of Conexión Américas * Jeff Yarbro, minority leader of the

Tennessee State Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

Endorsements

Results

Independents

Declared

*Yomi Faparusi, physician, attorney, researcher, and former Republican candidate for

Tennessee's 4th congressional district The 4th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in southern Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Scott DesJarlais since January 2011. Current boundaries The district lies mostly in the southern part of Middle ...

in 2014 and 2016 *Jeffrey Grunau, activist *Ronnie Henley, *Dean Hill, US veteran, former federal employee, and activist *Steven Hooper *Aaron James *Elizabeth McLeod, conservative activist *Eric William Stansberry

Withdrawn

*Tom Kovach, attorney *Kacey Morgan, freelancer and operations director ''(endorsed Marquita Bradshaw)'' ''(remained on ballot)''

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;with Bill Hagerty and James Mackler ;with Manny Sethi and James Mackler ;with Generic Republican and Generic Democrat

Results

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

External links

* * * (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters) * ;Official campaign websites
Marquita Bradshaw (D) for Senate

Yomi Faparusi (I) for Senate

Bill Hagerty (R) for Senate

Elizabeth Macleod (I) for Senate

Kacey Morgan (I) for Senate
{{2020 United States elections

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Open seats in the 2020 United States Senate elections