2004 Tennessee Senate election

For related races, see 2004 United States state legislative elections.

2004 Tennessee Senate election

← 2002 November 2, 2004 2006 →
16 of the 33 seats in the Tennessee State Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Wilder[1] Ron Ramsey Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 26th district 4th district Seats before 18 15 Seats won 16 17 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 548,347 468,015 Percentage 53.47% 45.63%
Results by gains and holds Results by winning party vote share Results:      Republican gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold      No Election Vote Share:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%
Speaker before election John Wilder Democratic Elected Speaker John Wilder Democratic

The 2004 Tennessee State Senate election was held on November 2, 2004, to elect 16 of the 33 seats for the Tennessee's State Senate. The elections coincided with the Presidential, U.S. House, and State House elections. The primary elections were held on August 5, 2004.^[2]

Following the 2004 elections, Republicans gained control of the Tennessee Senate for the first time since 1869, holding a slim one-vote majority. Although Republicans held a majority, they were unable to take control of the Senate leadership. On January 11, 2005, Republican senators Michael Williams of Maynardville and Tim Burchett of Knoxville joined Democrats to re-elect long-time Speaker John Wilder. Wilder won 18–15 and was sworn in for his eighteenth term as lieutenant governor. Their defections, along with unanimous Democratic support, ensured Wilder remained in power.^[3]

As part of the power-sharing arrangement that followed, Wilder named Williams Speaker pro tempore and gave Republicans majorities on seven of the Senate’s nine committees. However, he kept five Democratic chairmanships, leaving Democrats in charge of two committees, including the influential Finance Committee. The compromise angered many Republicans, who felt they had been unfairly denied full control despite their majority.^[4]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Rothenberg[5]	Lean D	October 1, 2004

Results summary

Party		Candidates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	Before	Up	Won	After	+/–
	Republican	13	468,015	45.63%	15	5	7	17	2
	Democratic	15	548,347	53.47%	18	11	9	16	2
	Independent	2	9,203	0.90%	0	0	0	0
Total			1,025,565	100.00%	33			33
Source: [1]

Popular vote

Democratic			53.47%
Republican			45.63%
Other			0.90%

Senate seats

Republican			51.52%
Democratic			48.48%

Closest races

Three races were decided by a margin of under 10%:

District	Winner	Margin
District 12	Democratic	8.8%
District 16	Republican (gain)	3.4%
District 18	Republican (gain)	3.2%

Results by district

District	Democratic		Republican		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 2	22,867	34.42%	43,560	65.58%	–	–	66,427	100.00%	Republican hold
District 4	–	–	45,160	100.00%	–	–	45,160	100.00%	Republican hold
District 6	21,809	26.87%	59,367	73.13%	–	–	81,176	100.00%	Republican hold
District 8	20,356	28.32%	48,200	67.06%	3,316	4.61%	71,872	100.00%	Republican hold
District 10	44,256	71.51%	17,635	28.49%	–	–	61,891	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 12	35,624	54.40%	29,864	45.60%	–	–	65,488	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 14	47,178	100.00%	–	–	–	–	47,178	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 16	34,675	48.29%	37,125	51.71%	–	–	71,800	100.00%	Republican gain
District 18	39,894	48.42%	42,496	51.58%	–	–	82,390	100.00%	Republican gain
District 20	57,503	100.00%	–	–	–	–	57,503	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 22	36,806	56.87%	27,909	43.13%	–	–	64,715	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 24	45,335	65.01%	24,400	34.99%	–	–	69,735	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 26	37,211	55.54%	29,784	44.46%	–	–	66,995	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 28	40,765	100.00%	–	–	–	–	40,765	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 30	42,254	67.20%	14,736	23.44%	5,887	9.36%	62,877	100.00%	Democratic hold
District 32	21,814	31.34%	47,779	68.66%	–	–	69,613	100.00%	Republican hold

See also

• 2004 Tennessee elections
• 2004 Tennessee House of Representatives election

References

1. Re-elected as Speaker due to crossover votes from two Republicans.
2. "Tennessee State Senate elections, 2004". Ballotpedia. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
3. Ashe, Victor. "Victor Ashe: Jimmy Matlock's attack on Tim Burchett marks start of GOP silly season". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
4. "In the Tennessee Senate, a Historic Shift of Power". Spartanburg Herald Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
5. Jacobson, Louis (October 1, 2004). "Handicapping the State Legislatures: A 50-State Preview". The Rothenberg Political Report: 7–10 – via Harvard Dataverse.