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Tennessee is holding both its Republican and Democratic primary elections on Thursday. Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time and 8 p.m. ET.
Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles emerged victorious in the state’s 5th Congressional District amongst a crowded GOP primary. Physician Jason Martin won Indiana’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Thursday night, as well.
Governor
Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee ran for reelection unopposed in the Volunteer State’s GOP primary. Before becoming governor in 2019, he worked for his family’s construction company, Lee Company, where he served as chairman for a short period.
In December, Lee will face off against the winner of Thursday’s Democratic primary, where three candidates sought to unseat him: advocate Carnita Atwater, physician Jason Martin, and Memphis Councilman JB Smiley Jr.
House of Representatives
In early 2022, Lee approved and signed a new congressional map into law following the passage of the map in both chambers of the Tennessee legislature. The new map split up the city of Nashville into three different districts, leading incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of the state’s 5th Congressional District not to seek reelection.
“Despite my strength at the polls, I could not stop the General Assembly from dismembering Nashville,” Cooper said in a statement according to the Washington Post. “No one tried harder to keep our city whole. I explored every possible way, including lawsuits, to stop the gerrymandering and to win one of the three new congressional districts that now divide Nashville. There’s no way, at least for me in this election cycle, but there may be a path for other worthy candidates.”
Fighting for the Democrats in Cooper’s place in the 5th District is Tennessee State Sen. Heidi Campbell, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She’ll face off against the winner of the crowded GOP primary, which had nine candidates vying for the seat. The three leading candidates were former state House Speaker Beth Harwell, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, and retired Tennessee National Guard Brig. Gen. Kurt Winstead
Additionally, five out of the state’s nine congressional members didn’t have any primary opponents: Reps. John Rose, Mark Green, Scott DesJarlais, Diana Harshbarger, and Tim Burchett.
State races
Each of Tennessee’s 99 state House seats is up for reelection this year, and 17 of the state’s 33 Senate seats are up for grabs as well.
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