Government & Legal Update

State Advocacy Update: State Election Primer

With the Tennessee General Assembly having adjourned for the year, lawmakers have returned to their home districts and shifted their focus toward the upcoming 2022 elections. With the August 4th primaries for state and federal offices around the corner, we wanted to provide a brief overview of the election landscape and the four proposed constitutional amendments that will be on the general election ballot in November. mary, and eight candidates have qualified to be on the ballot as independents. Results of a May 26, 2022 poll by Vanderbilt University had Governor Lee’s approval rating at 56 percent. He is expected to easily win another four-year term in office.

Key Dates

State & Federal Primary Voter Registration Deadline July 5 Early Voting (State & Federal Primary) July 15 – July 30 Election Day (State & Federal Primary) Thursday, Aug. 4 State & Federal General Election Voter Registration Deadline Oct. 11 General Election Early Voting Oct. 19 – Nov. 3 General Election Absentee Ballot Request Deadline Nov. 1 Election Day (State & Federal General) Tuesday, Nov. 8

State House of Representatives

The Tennessee Constitution requires all 99 state representative seats to be elected every two years. There are fifteen open seats for the state house due to a combination of retirements, resignations, and redistricting:

U.S. House of Representatives

All nine U.S. House seats in Tennessee are on the ballot this Fall (as they are every two years). Eight incumbents are seeking reelection, the only exception being Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Nashville) who is retiring after having held the 5th District seat since 2003. A newly redrawn fifth district will feature a competitive Republican primary (nine candidates have qualified for the ballot). Heidi Campbell, who currently represents Nashville in the state senate, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. The new-look fifth, which now includes portions of reliably “red” Wilson, Williamson, and Maury Counties, is forecasted to favor Republicans in the general election. District 13 (Murfreesboro/Smyrna) District 61 (Franklin) District 18 (Knoxville) District 63 (Franklin) District 24 (Cleveland) District 67 (Clarksville) District 26 (Hixson/Chattanooga) District 69 (Dickson) District 32 (Kingston/Harriman) District 71 (Waynesboro) District 35 (Gallatin) District 75 (Clarksville) District 52 (Nashville) District 79 (Lexington) District 59 (Nashville)

44 incumbents (31 Republicans and 13 Democrats) do not face a primary or general challenger and will retain their seats. Republicans will need to win 35 of the 45 contested seats to maintain their “supermajority” (i.e. controlling two-thirds of the chamber) control, which is widely expected.

State Senate

State senators are elected to fouryear terms, with half the body running every two years. This year, 17 of 33 state senate seats (all odd-numbered districts) are on the ballot. Currently, Republicans hold 27 of 33 seats. There are four open seats:

Incumbents Diana Harshbarger (R-District 1), Tim Burchett (RDistrict 2), Scott DesJarlais (R-District 4), and John Rose (R-District 6) are running unopposed in their respective primaries, while primary opponents have qualified to run against Chuck Fleischmann (R-District 3), David Kustoff (R-District 8), and Steve Cohen (D-District 9).

Governor

Governor Bill Lee is running unopposed in the Republican primary. Three candidates have qualified for the Democratic priDistrict 1 (McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, part of Bradley Counties) District 19 (Part of Davidson Co.) District 31 (Part of Shelby Co.) District 33 (Part of Shelby Co.)

Five incumbents (four Republicans and one Democrat) are running unopposed in the primary and general elections. Three incumbents, all Republicans, face primary opponents but are heavily favored to retain their seats. Republicans are expected to maintain their 27-6 advantage in the 113th General Assembly.

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Constitutional Amendments

Below is a rundown of the four constitutional amendments that will be on the November 8 ballot, courtesy of the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Website. You can read resolutions in detail at https://sos.tn.gov/announcements/proposed-constitutional-amendments.

Proposed Amendments for the November 2022 Ballot

Four proposed amendments will appear on the November 8, 2022 ballot directly after the candidates for governor.

Amendments are presented as yes or no questions. A "yes" vote is a vote to amend the Constitution and adopt the proposed language in the amendment. A "no" vote is a vote not to amend the Constitution and keep the current language in the Constitution unchanged.

For an amendment to pass and become part of the Constitution, two things must happen: 1. The amendment must get more "yes" votes than "no" votes; and 2. The number of "yes" votes must be a majority of the votes cast in the gubernatorial election. To determine the votes needed, all votes for all candidates for governor are added together. This number is divided by two or halved. The number of "yes" votes must exceed that number. If the number of "yes" votes exceeds the number, the Constitutional amendment passes and becomes part of the Constitution.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 648 (111th) & SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 2 (112th)

A RESOLUTION to propose an amendment to Article XI, of the Constitution of Tennessee, relative to the right to work.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 154 (111th) & SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10 (112th)

A RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to Article II and Article III of the Constitution of Tennessee, relative to the exercise of the powers and duties of the Governor during disability.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 159 (111th) & SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 80 (112th)

A RESOLUTION to propose an amendment to Article I, Section 33 of the Constitution of Tennessee, to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 178 (111th) & SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 55 (112th)

A RESOLUTION to propose an amendment to Article IX of the Constitution of Tennessee, relative to disqualifications.

Help Us Help You!

As your Insurors of Tennessee Government Affairs Committee and Political Action Committee board survey the election landscape and hit the road to identify candidates running for office worthy of our support, there’s no better time to help make sure we have the resources to contribute to campaigns in a meaningful way. Doing so is easy: visit https://www.insurors.org/donate-to-insurpactn/. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any of the staff at Insurors with questions. We greatly appreciate your support!

About the Author—Trey Moore is the government and legal consultant for Insurors. He operates Trey Moore Consulting in Nashville and formerly served as senior public policy counsel for one of Nashville’s largest law firms. Trey has over a decade of experience in representing clients before the Tennessee General Assembly and state government. u

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