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Tennessee elects first openly LGBTQ+ representative to Statehouse amid GOP gains

Pabio November 7, 2024

Tennessee Democrats failed to gain traction in the state Legislature — or widen their margins in congressional races — in Tuesday’s elections, despite new energy and significant fundraising. funds sparked by attempts to expel three members of the state House of Representatives last year.

Republicans maintained their large majority in the state legislature and easily defeated well-funded Democratic challenges for congressional seats, scoring double-digit victories — despite campaigns that avoided debates and, in some cases, even television advertising.

Here are the key takeaways from Tuesday’s election results in Tennessee.

Despite renewed energy over evictions, Democrats fail to gain ground

Election night in Tennessee led to very few substantive changes in key elected offices. Democrats failed to capitalize on two turbulent years of legislative politics, during which the large Republican majority sparked significant public protests on issues such as gun safety reform, leading to to increased visibility of Democratic politicians like the Tennessee Three.

A Democratic effort to flip a handful of competitive seats failed, as did a similar Republican effort to flip a few Democrats in Davidson and Montgomery counties.

Although there were a few legislative seats up for grabs, voters re-elected the same party’s candidate for each.

Ultimately, the GOP will maintain its strong position on state legislative policy, retaining its supermajority status in the House with 75 seats and 27 seats in the Senate. Legislative Democrats didn’t lose any ground in the state, but they didn’t narrow Republican margins either.

Tennessee elects first openly LGBTQ+ woman to statehouse

In District 96, newly elected state Rep. Gabby Salinas, D-Memphis, will be the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve in the state Legislature. Salinas will fill the vacancy left by Rep. Dwayne Thompson, D-Memphis, who did not seek re-election.

An immigrant, three-time cancer survivor and scientist, Salinas’ family brought her to Memphis at age 7 to receive cancer care at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She first ran for state Senate in 2018, challenging former Sen. Brian Kelsey and losing by fewer than 1,500 votes. She ran for the State House in 2020, losing to Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, by 466 votes.

This year, she was unopposed in District 96 in the general election.

“LGBTQ+ people everywhere – and especially in states like Tennessee where lawmakers are actively targeting our community – deserve representative leaders who will defend our rights,” said Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC. “Now they will have that leader in Gabby Salinas, who I know will fight tirelessly to ensure Tennesseans are treated fairly in every aspect of their lives.”

Johnson leads Bredesen in US Senate race

Propelled to a national profile by a failed expulsion attempt by the vast Republican majority in the House last yearState Rep. Gloria Johnson’s attempt to unseat U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn was fueled by significant out-of-state fundraising and name recognition.

It’s the most energy a statewide Democratic candidate in Tennessee has seen since former Gov. Phil Bredesen took on Blackburn in 2018.

Although Blackburn was never considered to be in serious danger of losing her seat — polls had her 23 points ahead of Johnson in the weeks leading up to Election Day — the race became a bellwether for whether Democrats might see a resurgence of a statewide race in the post-Bredesen era.

Johnson’s pitch to voters went well beyond the Blackburn seat: She sought to urge Democrats to vote in races ranging from presidential to school board seats, seeking to galvanize the historic political energy unleashed by attempted expulsion in significant voter turnout for Democrats.

But the hype didn’t pan out.

Johnson underperformed Bredesen’s 2018 candidacy, winning only two Democratic strongholds: Davidson and Shelby counties. As of 11:30 p.m., Johnson had won about 34 percent of the vote.

For comparison, Bredesen, who in 2006 was the last Democrat to win a statewide race in Tennessee, carried three counties and received 43.9% of the vote in 2018.

With few other promising Democrats able to make a statewide appeal, it begs the question: If Johnson couldn’t gain traction, who can?

Firebrand Republicans re-elected after quiet campaigns

Incumbent Republicans running low-key campaigns have become a theme this election cycle. In such a deeply Republican state, it’s not about courting independent or swing voters: candidates are more concerned with reinvigorating their base and getting out the vote.

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, was re-elected without launching a major campaign with TV ads and mailers. Following an FBI investigation that resulted in the confiscation of his cellphone shortly after the primary, Ogles’ campaign account has posted virtually no messages on social media since August.

Meanwhile, after announcing this spring that he would not run again, outgoing President US Representative Mark GreenR-Clarksville, also ran a low-key campaign, compared to his challenger, former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. Despite her heavy ground game that Green called her toughest challenge yet, Barry did not improve the 2022 Democratic margins in the 7th Congressional District, although she did not lose ground.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has run television ads and outside PACs have sent mailers on her behalf, but she has avoided engaging directly with her opponent, state Rep. Gloria Johnson.

The strategy of avoiding traditional campaign strategies, such as engaging with traditional media, doing interviews and debating with their opponents, seemed to work: Blackburn, Ogles and Green all cruised to victory on Tuesday, winning by margins to two digits.

Kelly Puente and Evan Mealins contributed.