The speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the lower chamber of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The speaker is elected by other members of the House for a two-year term. The current Speaker is Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville). Sexton was elected and took over from Acting-Speaker Bill Dunn, who assumed office upon the resignation of Glen Casada, effective August 2, 2019.[1]
| Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives[2] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Term | Party | Life | Notes | |
| David Wilson | 1794 - 1795 | c. 1752 - 1803 | Speaker of the Southwest Territory House of Representatives | ||
| Joseph Hardin | 1795 - 1796 | 1734 - 1801 | Speaker of the Southwest Territory House of Representatives | ||
| James Stuart | 1796 - 1799 | c. 1751 - 1816 | |||
| William Dickson | 1799 - 1803 | Democratic-Republican | 1770 - 1816 | ||
| James Stuart | 1803 - 1805 | c. 1751 - 1816 | |||
| Robert Coleman Foster | 1805 - 1807 | 1769 - 1844 | |||
| John Tipton | 1807 - 1809 | 1767-1831 | |||
| Joseph Dickson | 1809 - 1811 | Federalist | 1745 - 1825 | ||
| Thomas Henderson [3] | 1811-1812 | Democratic-Republican | 1742-c.1827/32 | ||
| John Cocke | 1812 - 1813 | Democratic-Republican | 1772 - 1854 | ||
| Thomas Claiborne | 1813 - 1815 | Democratic | 1780 - 1856 | ||
| James Fentress | 1815 - 1817 | Democratic | 1763 - 1843 | ||
| Thomas Williamson | 1817 - 1819 | 1767 - 1825 | |||
| James Fentress | 1819 - 1825 | Democratic | 1763 - 1843 | ||
| William Brady | 1825 - 1827 | d. 1835 | |||
| John H. Camp | 1827 - 1829 | 1783 - 1829 | |||
| Ephraim H. Foster | 1829 - 1831 | 1794 - 1854 | |||
| Frederick W. Huling | 1831 - 1835 | Democratic | |||
| Ephraim H. Foster | 1835 - 1837 | Whig | 1794 - 1854 | ||
| John Cocke | 1837 - 1839 | Whig | 1772 - 1854 | ||
| Jonas E. Thomas | 1839 - 1841 | Democratic | 1803 - 1856 | ||
| Burchet Douglass | 1841 - 1842 | Whig | 1793 - 1849 | ||
| Franklin Buchanan | 1842 - 1843 | Whig | c. 1813 - 1851 | ||
| Daniel L. Barringer | 1843 - 1845 | Whig | 1788 - 1852 | ||
| Brookins Campbell | 1845 - 1847 | Democratic | 1808 - 1853 | ||
| Franklin Buchanan | 1847 - 1849 | Whig | c. 1813 - 1851 | ||
| Landon Carter Haynes | 1849 - 1851 | Democratic | 1816 - 1875 | ||
| Jordan Stokes | 1851 - 1853 | Whig | 1817 - 1886 | ||
| William H. Wisener | 1853 - 1855 | Whig | 1812 - 1882 | ||
| Neill S. Brown | 1855 - 1857 | Whig | 1818 - 1878 | ||
| Daniel S. Donelson | 1857 - 1859 | Democratic | 1801 - 1863 | ||
| Washington C. Whitthorne | 1859 - 1861 | Democratic | 1825 - 1891 | ||
| Edwin A. Keeble | 1861 - 1862 | Democratic | 1807 - 1868 | The state government was replaced by a military government in 1862 | |
| William Heiskell | 1865 - 1867 | Conservative Republican | 1788 - 1871 | Confusion over apparent resignation in July 1866 for refusing to sign the 14th Amendment | |
| F.S. Richardson | 1867 - 1869 | Radical Republican | |||
| William O'Neal Perkins | 1869 - 1871 | Conservative Republican | 1815 - 1895 | ||
| James D. Richardson | 1871 - 1873 | Democratic | 1843 - 1914 | New state constitution adopted in 1870 | |
| William S. McGaughey | 1873 - 1875 | Democratic | 1821 - 1889 | ||
| Lewis Bond | 1875 - 1877 | Democratic | 1839 - 1878 | ||
| Edwin T. Taliaferro | 1877 - 1879 | Democratic | 1849 - 1919 | ||
| Henry P. Fowlkes | 1879 - 1881 | Democratic | 1843 - 1817 | ||
| Henry B. Ramsey | 1881 - 1883 | Republican | 1847 - 1897 | ||
| Washington L. Ledgerwood | 1883 - 1885 | Democratic | 1843 - 1911 | ||
| James A. Manson | 1885 - 1887 | Democratic | 1842 - 1901 | ||
| Walter L. Clapp | 1887 - 1891 | Democratic | 1850 - 1901 | ||
| Thomas R. Myers | 1891 - 1893 | Democratic | 1840 - 1919 | ||
| Ralph Davis | 1893 | Democratic | 1866 - 1952 | ||
| Julius A. Trousdale | 1893 - 1895 | Democratic | 1840 - 1899 | ||
| John A. Tipton | 1895 - 1897 | Democratic | 1858 - 1925 | ||
| Morgan C. Fitzpatrick | 1897 - 1899 | Democratic | 1868 - 1908 | ||
| Joseph W. Byrns | 1899 - 1901 | Democratic | 1869 - 1936 | ||
| Edgar B. Wilson | 1901 - 1903 | Democratic | 1874 - 1953 | ||
| Lawrence Tyson | 1903 - 1905 | Democratic | 1861 - 1929 | ||
| William K. Abernathy | 1905 - 1907 | Democratic | 1870 - 1940 | ||
| John T. Cunningham | 1907 - 1909 | Democratic | 1877 - 1945 | ||
| Matthew H. Taylor | 1909 - 1911 | Democratic | 1884 - 1965 | ||
| Albert M. Leach | 1911 - 1913 | Democratic | 1859 - 1926 | ||
| William M. Stanton | 1913 - 1915 | Democratic | 1890 - 1957 | ||
| William P. Cooper | 1915 - 1917 | Democratic | 1870 - 1961 | ||
| Clyde Shropshire | 1917 - 1919 | Democratic | 1866 - 1949 | ||
| Seth M. Walker | 1919 - 1921 | Democratic | 1892 - 1951 | ||
| Andrew L. Todd Sr. | 1921 - 1923 | Democratic | 1872 - 1945 | ||
| Frank S. Hall | 1923 - 1925 | Democratic | 1890 - 1958 | ||
| William F. Barry | 1925 - 1927 | Democratic | 1900 - 1967 | ||
| Selden Maiden | 1927 - 1929 | Democratic | 1883 - 1949 | ||
| Charles H. Love | 1929 - 1931 | Democratic | 1874 - 1950 | ||
| Walter M. Haynes | 1931 - 1933 | Democratic | 1897 - 1967 | ||
| Frank W. Moore | 1933 - 1935 | Democratic | 1905 - 1982 | ||
| Walter M. Haynes | 1935 - 1939 | Democratic | 1897 - 1967 | ||
| John Ed O'Dell | 1939 - 1943 | Democratic | 1906 - 1956 | ||
| James J. Broome | 1943 - 1945 | Democratic | 1884 - 1952 | ||
| George Woods | 1945 - 1947 | Democratic | 1913 - 1982 | ||
| William Buford Lewallen | 1947 - 1949 | Democratic | 1920 - 2003 | ||
| McAllen Foutch | 1949 - 1953 | Democratic | 1909 - 1996 | ||
| James L. Bomar Jr. | 1953 - 1963 | Democratic | 1914 - 2001 | ||
| Dick Barry | 1963 - 1967 | Democratic | 1926 - 2013 | ||
| James H. Cummings | 1967 - 1969 | Democratic | 1890 - 1979 | ||
| Bill Jenkins | 1969 - 1971 | Republican | 1936 - | ||
| James R. McKinney | 1971 - 1973 | Democratic | 1931 - 1992 | ||
| Ned McWherter | 1973 - 1987 | Democratic | 1930 - 2011 | ||
| Ed Murray | 1987 - 1991 | Democratic | 1928 - 2009 | ||
| Jimmy Naifeh | 1991 - 2009 | Democratic | 1939 - | ||
| Kent Williams | 2009 - 2011 | Republican | 1949 - | ||
| Beth Harwell | 2011 - 2019 | Republican | 1957 - | First woman to serve as Speaker of the House | |
| Glen Casada | 2019 | Republican | 1959 - | Resigned | |
| Cameron Sexton | 2019 - present | Republican | 1970 - | Elected Speaker on August 23, 2019 | |