The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. The incumbent,

Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (born March 15, 1936) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the Unit ...

, was term-limited and is prohibited by the

Constitution of Tennessee The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee. The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, ...

from seeking a third consecutive term. To succeed him, former

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Mayor

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 ...

, the Democratic nominee, who had run against Sundquist in 1994, narrowly defeated

United States Congressman 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 ...

Van Hilleary William Vanderpool "Van" Hilleary (born June 20, 1959) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 4th congressional district from 1995 to 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and career Hi ...

, the

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 ...

nominee, in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former Mayor of

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Democratic nominee for governor *Randy Nichols, Knox County District Attorney General *Charles E. Smith, former Tennessee Commissioner of Education *Charles V. Brown *L. Best *Floyd R. Conover

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

from

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 ...

* Jim Henry, former Minority Leader 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 consis ...

*Bob Tripp *Dave Kelley *Jessie D. McDonald

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

(D) *

(R) *Edwin C. Sanders (I) *Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I) *

John Jay Hooker John Jay Hooker, Jr. (August 24, 1930 – January 24, 2016) was an American attorney, entrepreneur, political gadfly and perennial candidate from Nashville, Tennessee, who was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Tennessee in 1970 and 1998 ...

(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 Basil Marceaux, Sr. (born May 26, 1952) is an American perennial candidate who has on multiple occasions run for state and federal public office in Tennessee. Most recently, he filed as a candidate for the 2010 Republican nominations for gover ...

(I)

Predictions

Polling

Results

Notes

References

External links

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Phil Bredesen for GovernorVan Hilleary for Governor
{{United States elections, 2002

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 ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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 ...