The 2002 Tennessee State Senate election was held on Tuesday November 5, 2002, to determine which party would control the Tennessee Senate for the following two years in the 103rd Tennessee General Assembly. The seventeen odd-numbered districts of the 33 seat Tennessee Senate were up for election.
Prior to the election 18 seats were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans. Primary elections were held on August 1, 2002. The general election saw both parties holding on to the same amount of seats as the previous election, meaning that Democrats retained control of the Tennessee Senate.
Retirements
Two incumbent Republicans did not run for re-election in 2002. Those incumbents were:
- District 13: Gene Elsea retired.
- District 23: Marsha Blackburn retired to successfully run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 7th congressional district.
Incumbents defeated
In the primary election
Republicans
- District 1: Tommy Haun (R) lost renomination to Steve Southerland.
Democrats
- District 17: Robert Rochelle (D) lost renomination to Sherry Fisher.
In the general election
Republicans
- District 27: Bobby Carter (R) lost re-election to Don McLeary.
Predictions
Results summary
Closest races
Three races were decided by a margin of under 10%:
Results by district
Candidates and results
District 1
Republican primary
General election
District 3
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 5
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 7
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 9
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 11
Republican primary
General election
District 13
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 15
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 17
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 19
Democratic primary
General election
District 21
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 23
Republican primary
General election
District 25
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 27
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 29
Democratic primary
General election
District 31
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 33
Democratic primary
General election
See also
References