The 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the next

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 ...

, alongside other state and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Incumbent Republican Governor Bill Lee is prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term.

Republican primary

Candidates

Publicly expressed interest * John Rose,

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

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 ...

(2019–present)

Potential

* Glenn Jacobs, mayor of Knox County (2018–present) * Mark Green,

from (2019–present) * Cameron Sexton,

Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consist ...

(2019–present) *

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 S ...

(2009–present) * Damon Hininger, CEO of

CoreCivic CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the ...

*Joe Baker, attorney and co-founder of Yee-Haw Brewing Company and Ole Smoky Moonshine

Democratic primary

Potential

Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Stephan Cohen (born 1971), French pocket billiards player * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast *Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian *Ste ...

from (2007–present) *

Raumesh Akbari Raumesh Aleza Akbari (''ruh-MESH'' ''ack-BERRY'') (born April 14, 1984) is an American politician and member of the Tennessee Senate for the 29th district since 2019. She was formerly a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 91 ...

, Minority Leader of the

Tennessee State Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , 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 ...

(2023–present), State Senator from the 29th District (2019–present), and former

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

(2013–2019) *

London Lamar London Lamar (born December 29, 1990) is an American politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and a member of the Tennessee Senate representing district 33 since 2022. She was previously a member of the Tennessee House of Representa ...

, State Senator from the 33rd District (2022–present) and former State Representative (2018–2022) *

Justin Pearson Justin Pearson (born August 20, 1975) is a vocalist and bassist known for his music career, playing in a number of San Diego-based noise rock, punk and grindcore bands, as well as his record label Three One G Records. Starting off in the punk ...

, State Representative from the 86th District (February 2023– April 2023; April 2023–present)

References

{{2026 United States elections Tennessee gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

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 ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Potential

Democratic primary

Potential

See also

References