Live: Tennessee primary election results

Party primary Election Day in Tennessee is determining the final candidates for almost all of the state’s congressional seats — one for U.S. Senate and all nine positions in the U.S. House — and a multitude of statehouse posts. There are also general election local races on many ballots.

Other than Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, in Memphis, the congressional delegation is entirely Republican. The primary will set up some competitive contests in November, with high-profile Democrats challenging for all three of the House seats — Districts 5, 6 and 7 — that include parts of Nashville.

Tennessee’s high-profile U.S. Senate battle is set with Blackburn vs. Johnson 

It will be incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn against state Rep. Gloria Johnson in a high-profile battle for one of Tennessee’s two U.S. Senate seats in November. The women secured the Republican and Democratic nominations in Thursday’s primary.

Johnson was catapulted onto the national stage as a member of the so-called Tennessee Three after her Republican colleagues in the statehouse tried to expel her along with Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson. Johnson parlayed that attention into her campaign against Blackburn, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018.

Some analysts think that Tennessee’s Democratic enthusiasm over Kamala Harris, coupled with growing disapproval of the state’s Republican supermajority, might bolster Johnson’s campaign. 

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Tennessee delegates to the Democratic National Convention were among the first in the nation to support Harris. 

But Blackburn is still favored to win the general election, and no Democrat has won a statewide race in Tennessee since Phil Bredesen’s re-election as governor in 2006. In her time in office, Blackburn has been a major proponent of former President Donald Trump, and has maintained strong approval ratings.

Turnout has lagged in recent years

The percentage of Tennesseans who participate in elections lags behind the nation as a whole, and people in the state’s rural counties are especially unlikely to vote.

A new study from the think tank Think Tennessee says this state was last in the nation for voter turnout in the 2022 midterm elections. That rate has generally been declining for the past decade.

In Davidson County, 38,000 voters turned up to the polls during the early voting period this election. It’s a significant drop since the last primary before a presidential election in 2020. Then, 52,000 Nashvillians took the early route. That means we went from 11% coming out early to 9%.

And that’s just looking at the percentage of people on the voter rolls who actually came to the polls.

An estimated 156,000 people in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga are not registered voters. Participation is even lower in eight of the most remote counties, where fewer than 75% of residents are registered to vote.

Results are expected after 7 p.m., starting with early voting totals. This story will be updated.