Not only did McCain handily win in Tennessee, but the TNGOP also made some gains at the state house. According to Bill Hobbs, the GOP has taken control of both the TN House and Senate; this is the first time since the Civil War.
The Republicans now have a majority in the State Senate with 19 seats versus the 14 seats now held by the Democrats.
One race that was in particular interest to me was the race between Mike Faulk and incumbent, independent Mike Williams of District 4 (my home district). Williams was formally a part of the Republican party but recently switched to independent status after many in-party disputes, including his vote for a Democrat as Speaker of the Senate and Lt. Governorship. I hadn't really kept track of this race closely. I did hear about allegations of Faulk having an affair with a married woman. Also, Williams racked in $110,000 of campaign contributions from TN Dems. Even though those were obstacles for Faulk, I expected him to win in a landslide. I thought people in the District would see the "Republican" title and push the button without looking at the name. However, Faulk has won with only a 346-vote margin. This was certainly a lot more competitive than I originally thought. (more here)
Another surprise to me was the narrow loss of Democrat incumbent Nathan Vaughn of the TN House 2nd District. He was defeated by Republican challenger Tony Shipley; the vote difference, however, was only 1%. Apparently, Shipley ran a tough campaign by "attacking Vaughn’s voting record on everything from illegal immigration to raising taxes on cigarettes to fund education reform." It looks like this will now allow the GOP to also take control of the State House; they are supposed to now have 50 seats out of 33. (more here)
Mike Harrison, of Hawkins County, defended his TN House 9th District seat by obtaining 71% of the vote. This will now be his fourth term in the House. For more on Harrison and some more Hawkins County races, there is more here.
To no surprise, Republican Phil Roe of the TN US House 1st District will now be heading off to Congress with 72% of the vote. Really no surprise here considering we have sent a Democrat off to Congress in 100+ years. After he defeated incumbent David Davis, there was much second-thought about his next job. (more here)
For more on the GOP gains in TN government, read here. For local election results in the Tri-Cities area, check this out.
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