| Election Name: | 2002 Tennessee elections |
| Country: | Tennessee |
| Type: | midterm |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
| Previous Year: | 2000 |
Tennessee state elections in 2002 were held on Tuesday, November 5, 2002. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, governorship, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee House of Representatives, were held on August 1, 2002. There were also two constitutional amendments to the Constitution of Tennessee on the November 5 ballot.
See main article: 2002 United States Senate election in Tennessee.
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Fred Thompson decided to retire. Former Republican Governor Lamar Alexander won the open seat, defeating Congressman Bob Clement.
August 1, 2002, Primary Results
See main article: 2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee.
Tennessee elected nine U.S. representatives, each representing one of Tennessee's nine congressional districts.
| District | Incumbent | This race | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | First elected | Results | Candidates | |||
| Bill Jenkins | Republican | 1996 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
| Jimmy Duncan | Republican | 1988 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
| Zach Wamp | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
| Van Hilleary | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent retired to run for Governor of Tennessee. New member elected. Democratic gain. | ||||
| Bob Clement | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbent retired to run for U.S. senator. New member elected. Democratic hold. | ||||
| Bart Gordon | Democratic | 1984 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
| Ed Bryant | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent retired to run for U.S. senator. New member elected. Republican hold. | ||||
| John S. Tanner | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
| Harold Ford Jr. | Democratic | 1996 | Incumbent re-elected. | ||||
See main article: 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election. Incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen was re-elected to a second term with 68.6% of the vote, defeating his Republican challenger Jim Bryson. Improving on his performance from 2002, Bredesen also carried every county in the state.
August 1, 2002, primary results
See also: Tennessee General Assembly. Elections for 17 of the 33 seats in Tennessee's State Senate were held on November 5, 2002.
After this election, Democrats had 18 seats while Republicans had 15 seats. Both parties maintained their respective amount of seats.
The election of all 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives occurred on November 5, 2002.
Democrats won 54 seats, while Republicans won 45 seats. Republicans gained four seats.
| Amendment 1 | |
| Question: | Shall the Tennessee Constitution be amended so that the period (.) at the end of Article XI, Section 5, of the Constitution of Tennessee be changed to a comma and the following new language be added: except that the legislature may authorize as state lottery if the net proceeds of thelottery's revenues are allocated to provide financial assistance to citizens of this statet to enable such citizens to attend post-secondary educational institutions located within this state. The excess after such allocations from such 1 net proceeds from the lottery would beappropriaed to: (1) Capital outlay projects for K-12 educational facilities; and(2) Early learning programs and after school programs. Such appropriation of funds to support improvements and enhancements foreducational programs and purposes and such net proceeds shall be used to supplement, not supplant, non-lottery educational resources for education programs and purposes. All other forms of lottery not authorized herein are expressly prohibited unlessauthorized by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the General Assembly for an annual event operated for the benefit of a 501(c)(3) organization located in this state, as defined by the 2000 United States Tax Code or as may be amended from time to time. A state lottery means a lottery of the type such as in operation in Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia in 2000, and the amendment to Article XI, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee provided for herein does not authorize games ofchance associated with casinos, including, but not limited to, slot machines, roulettewheels, and the like. The state lottery authorized in this section shall be implemented and administereduniformly throughout the state in such manner as the legislature, by general law, deems appropriate. |
| Yes: | 894,232 |
| No: | 659,979 |
| Total: | 1,554,211 |
| Notes: | Source: Tennessee Secretary of State[1] |
| Mapcaption: | Yes No |
This amendment would establish a state lottery. It passed with 57.54% of the vote, establishing the Tennessee Lottery.[2]
| Amendment 2 | |
| Question: | Shall the Tennessee Constitution be amended by deleting Article VI, Section 14, in its entirety and by substituting instead the following: Sec. 14. The General Assembly shall prescribe the maximum fine that, absent waiver, may be assessed without a jury. |
| Yes: | 702,434 |
| No: | 623,535 |
| Total: | 1,325,969 |
| Notes: | Source: Tennessee Secretary of State[3] |
| Mapcaption: | Yes No |