The 2010 Tennessee House of Representatives election was held on November 2, 2010, to elect 99 seats for the Tennessee House of Representatives. The elections coincided with the Governor, U.S. House, and State Senate elections. The primary elections were held on August 5, 2010.
Republicans gained 14 seats, expanding their House majority. With Bill Haslam flipping the governorship to the Republicans, and with the state legislature also under Republican control, the party secured its first government trifecta in Tennessee since 1869. Following this election, Republicans have continuously maintained their trifecta.
In 2008 Republicans won the majority of the state House, winning 50 of the 99 seats, with the Democrats holding 49. This was the first time the GOP has had a majority in the Tennessee House since 1971, and the first time both House and Senate have had Republican majorities since Reconstruction. This ended Democrat Jimmy Naifeh's long term as Speaker, but the Republicans' narrow majority in the House did not allow them to elect their preferred Speaker. While 49 Republicans voted for Jason Mumpower, the 49 Democrats and Republican Representative Kent Williams voted for Williams to succeed Naifeh as Speaker.
Naifeh, who was chairing the House for the last time, helped to engineer Williams' election by instructing the House clerk to depart from the normal practice of conducting a roll call of the members in alphabetical order, instead calling first on the Democrats, then on the Republicans. This allowed Williams to vote last, so that before he voted he knew that his vote for himself would be the deciding vote. Williams become the first Republican Speaker of the House since 1969.
The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee, still stinging over the unanticipated election defeat of Rep. Jason Mumpower as the next Speaker of the House, voted to eject Williams as a bona fide member of the Tennessee Republican Party. In response, Speaker Williams then chose "Carter County Republican" as his new party designation.
In 2009, District 62 Democratic representative Curt Cobb resigned from his House seat, in his fourth term, to serve as Bedford County Clerk and Master (court clerk).
On October 13th, 2009 there was a special election to replace Cobb. Republican candidate Pat Marsh won the special election, flipping the seat. This put House Republicans back at 50 seats making it easier to pass legislation without Kent William's support.
Kent Williams ran for re-election to the House as an independent, but did not stand for re-election to the Speakership. Republicans selected Beth Harwell as the new Speaker, the first woman to be elected to that office.
Democratic minority leader Gary Odom didnâÂÂt expect members of the House Democratic Caucus to hold him responsible for the partyâÂÂs losses following the elections. Odom sought re-election to another term as his partyâÂÂs floor leader but he lost the position to Craig Fitzhugh.
Seven races were decided by margins under 10%:
Former Democratic House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh narrowly won re-election.