Tennessee General Assembly: August 2026 Primary Results and What This Means for November
Tennessee’s August 6 primary election is behind us, and the results are in. Voters weighed in on races up and down the ballot, including for Governor, U.S. Senate and House, and both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly.
At the top of the ticket, Republicans nominated U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn for governor and Democrats picked Memphis City Councilmember Jerri Green, setting up the state’s first all-woman gubernatorial race in November. In the U.S. House, Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles lost the 5th District primary to former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who will face Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder in November.
Also on the ballot were 17 Tennessee Senate seats and all 99 seats in the Tennessee House. The results give us an early look at how the Tennessee General Assembly might change heading into the 2027-2028 session.
In our last post, we laid out everything you needed to know going into the Tennessee Primary Elections. Now, it’s time to see how it has played out.
As a reminder, 2026 is an election year for the odd-numbered state Senate districts and the entire state House. Tennessee state senators in even-numbered districts will be up for election in 2028.
Note: All information is current as of August 11. We’ve included unofficial results below and will be making updates as final election results become available. Source: Tennessee Secretary of State
Key Takeaways
No Senate incumbents appear to have lost their primaries – out of 5 Senate incumbents in primary elections.
3 House incumbents appear to have lost their primaries – out of 14 House incumbents in primary elections.
1 Senate incumbent (Lieutenant Governor and Speaker Randy McNally, District 5) will not be returning – we expect at least 1 new face in the Senate in January.
13 House incumbents will not be returning – we expect at least 13 new faces in the House in January.
9 Senate races and 33 House races have no November contest – at minimum, we expect these 37 incumbent members and 5 new primary winners in the 2027-2028 session.
District 93 is a special case following the appointment of Rep. T.J. Hardaway in May 2026 – see the dedicated section below for details.
TN Senate Results
5 Districts (out of 17 odd-numbered districts up for election this year) held primary elections for the Senate. Only one district (District 17) simultaneously held Democratic and Republican primaries.
No incumbent senators appear to have lost their primaries.
Here are the full results. Incumbents are listed in bold:
TN House Results
30 Districts (out of 99) held primary elections for the House. Only two districts (Districts 8 and 78) simultaneously held Democratic and Republican primaries.
3 incumbent representatives appear to have lost their primaries. In all three races, there is no November opponent, so the primary winner will likely serve in the 2027-2028 session.
Jessica Means (R) appears to have defeated Rep. John Crawford in District 1 (Part of Sullivan County).
Noah Smith (R) appears to have defeated Rep. Dennis Powers in District 36 (Campbell, Union and part of Claiborne Counties).
Telisa Franklin (D) appears to have defeated Rep. Gabby Salinas in District 96 (Part of Shelby County).
Here are the full results. Incumbents are listed in bold:
Primary Winners Uncontested in November
Some races were effectively decided by the primaries, with no opponents for the winners on the November ballot. Other races were never contested – the incumbent has no opponents in the primary or the November general election. Together, these members will likely serve in the 2027-2028 legislative session – a mix of returning incumbents and new members.
Senate
3 Senate races were effectively decided by the primary elections – these primary winners (2 Democrats and 1 Republican) appear to have no opponents in the November general election and will likely serve in the 2027-2028 legislative session.
District 1 – Incumbent Sen. Adam Lowe (R)
District 3 – Incumbent Sen. Rusty Crowe (R)
District 33 – Incumbent Sen. London Lamar (D)
Along with those listed above, the following 6 senators (3 Democrats and 3 Republicans) will be returning for the 2027-2028 legislative session, as they did not face primary challengers and are running unopposed in the general election.
District 9 – Sen. Steve Southerland (R)
District 15 – Sen. Paul Bailey (R)
District 19 – Sen. Charlane Oliver (D)
District 21 – Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D)
District 25 – Sen. Ed Jackson (R)
District 29 – Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D)
House
7 House races were effectively decided by the primary elections – these primary winners (4 Democrats and 3 Republicans) appear to have no opponents in the November general election and will likely serve in the 2027-2028 legislative session.
District 1 – Jessica Means (R)
District 36 – Noah Smith (R)
District 81 – Brett A. Giannini (R)
District 84 – Incumbent Rep. Joe Towns, Jr. (D)
District 86 – Incumbent Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D)
District 91 – Incumbent Rep. Torrey C. Harris (D)
District 96 – Telisa Franklin (D)
Along with those listed above, the following 25 representatives (11 Democrats and 14 Republicans) will be returning for the 2027-2028 legislative session, as they did not face primary challengers and are running unopposed in the general election.
District 4 – Rep. Renea Jones (R)
District 9 – Rep. Gary Hicks (R)
District 10 – Rep. Rick Eldridge (R)
District 12 – Rep. Fred Atchley (R)
District 15 – Rep. Sam McKenzie (D)
District 17 – Rep. Andrew Farmer (R)
District 21 – Rep. Lowell Russell (R)
District 22 – Rep. Dan Howell (R)
District 39 – Rep. Iris Rudder (R)
District 50 – Rep. Bo Mitchell (D)
District 51 – Rep. Aftyn Behn (D)
District 53 – Rep. Jason Powell (D)
District 54 – Rep. Vincent Dixie (D)
District 56 – Rep. Bob Freeman (D)
District 58 – Rep. Harold Love, Jr. (D)
District 72 – Rep. Kirk Haston (R)
District 73 – Rep. Chris Todd (R)
District 74 – Rep. Jay D. Reedy (R)
District 76 – Rep. Tandy Darby (R)
District 82 – Rep. Chris Hurt (R)
District 85 – Rep. Jesse Chism (D)
District 88 – Rep. Larry Miller (D)
District 90 – Rep. Gloria Johnson (D)
District 95 – Rep. Kevin Vaughan (R)
District 98 – Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D)
New Faces in the 2027-2028 Session
Senate
At least 1 new face will be in the Senate for the 2027-2028 legislative session.
District 5 – Jimmy Matlock (R) v. David Miller (D)
Sen. Randy McNally (R) is not seeking re-election for the 2027-2028 legislative session. The November race is between former Representative Jimmy Matlock (R) and educator David Miller (D).
House
At least 13 new faces will likely join the House for the 2027-2028 legislative session. These 13 seats are split into two groups: races already decided (before or after the primaries) and races that will be decided in November.
Races with no November contest (5)
In the following 5 districts, the candidate has no general election opponents and will likely serve as the representative for their respective districts.
District 1 – Jessica Means (R)
Jessica Means (R) appears to have defeated incumbent Rep. John Crawford in the District 1 Republican Primary.
District 2 – Gary Stidham (R)
Incumbent Rep. Bud Hulsey (R) is not seeking re-election for the 2027-2028 legislative session.
District 36 – Noah Smith (R)
Noah Smith (R) appears to have defeated incumbent Rep. Dennis Powers in the District 36 Republican Primary.
District 81 – Brett A. Giannini (R)
Incumbent Rep. Debra Moody (R) is not seeking re-election for the 2027-2028 legislative session. Brett A. Giannini (R) appears to have defeated opponent Jason Fleming in the District 81 Republican Primary.
District 96 – Telisa Franklin (D)
Telisa Franklin (D) appears to have defeated incumbent Rep. Gabby Salinas (D) in the District 96 Democratic Primary.
Races that will be decided in November (8)
In the following 8 districts, the incumbent representative is not seeking re-election for the 2027-2028 legislative session. The incoming member will be determined in the November election.
District 8 – Hilary Trudell (D) v. Jordan Henderson (R)
Incumbent Rep. Jerome Moon (R) won the 2024 general election with 77% of the vote.
District 11 – Sheila McMahan (D) v. Kenny Cody (R) v. Larry Brown (I)
Incumbent Rep. Jeremy Faison (R) won the 2024 general election with 84% of the vote.
District 31 – Michael Woodlee (D) v. Andy J. Swafford (R) v. Keith Nolan (I) v. Randy Sharp (I)
Incumbent Rep. Ron Travis (R) won the 2024 general election with 84% of the vote.
District 32 – Ali Simpson (D) v. Jack L. Stockton (R)
Incumbent Rep. Monty Fritts (R) had no opponent in the 2024 general election and carried 100% of the vote.
District 45 – Mandy Cook (D) v. Brian Stewart (R)
Incumbent Rep. Johnny Garrett (R) won the 2024 general election with 68% of the vote.
District 59 – Mark Proctor (D) v. Bill Hancock (R)
Incumbent Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D) had no opponent in the 2024 general election and carried 100% of the vote.
District 78 – Hilary Capes-Gwinn (D) v. Perry Keenan (R)
Incumbent Rep. Mary Littleton (R) won the 2024 general election with 74% of the vote.
District 80 – Andrea Bond Johnson (D) v. Julian McTizic (R)
Incumbent Rep. Johnny Shaw (D) won the 2024 general election with 61% of the vote.
A Special Case: House District 93 (Part of Shelby County)
As a reminder, House District 93 is a unique case – no candidates qualified to appear on the ballot, making it an entirely write-in election (both for the August Primary and November General Election). Longtime Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D), who represented the district for roughly 19 years, died in April 2026. His son, Rep. T.J. Hardaway, was appointed on May 6, 2026 to serve the remainder of the term.
Because no candidates received the required number of signatures to have their names printed on the ballot, there are two options for write-in candidates:
In the August primary, a write-in candidate must receive at least 5% of the votes of active voters in the district to receive a party’s nomination on the November ballot.
In the November general election, there is no threshold – whoever receives the most votes wins.
On August 6, the write-in primary fell short of putting anyone on the ballot. Only 996 write-in votes were cast across the race, so no candidate reached the approximately 1,500-vote threshold (which is approximately 5% of the district’s registered voters), and no partisan nominee will appear on the November ballot for District 93.
Rep. Hardaway has indicated that he is pursuing the seat in the November general election as an independent write-in candidate, where plurality will decide the outcome.
The Bigger Picture: What Primary Results Mean for November Elections
New Faces = Opportunity to Build New Relationships
With 3 incumbents losing their primaries and 11 incumbents not seeking re-election, the window to get ahead of the 2027 session is open right now – knowing who the incoming members are before they’re sworn in means advocates and lobbyists can start building relationships today, well before the competition catches up.Retirement = New Leadership
Lieutenant Governor and Senate Speaker Randy McNally is retiring after 10 terms in the Senate, leaving an open seat and open leadership position. Whoever fills this role will help shape Senate priorities for the 2027-2028 biennium. The Senate will meet in January to formally vote and install a new Speaker and Lieutenant Governor – we’ll keep you updated as that happens.Races Already Decided = Start Work Early
A large share of the 2027-2028 Tennessee General Assembly is already set. With 42 seats (9 in the Senate and 33 in the House) carrying no November contest, the roster of members to work with next session is, in large part, already known today. For advocates, that’s an early map of who to engage – there’s no need to wait until November to start planning around the members who are already set.
Stay Ahead with Roboro
If you want to stay ahead of legislative developments, bill movement, and member changes heading into the 2027 session, Roboro is built for exactly that.
Questions or data requests? Email us at hello@roboro.ai
Roboro AI provides legislative intelligence for advocacy professionals. All information is current as of August 11, 2026. Official election results will be updated as they become available.
