United States Senate election in Tennessee, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
U.S. Senate, Tennessee
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: April 2, 2020
	Primary: August 6, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent:; Lamar Alexander (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: Varies by county; Voting in Tennessee
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	U.S. Senate, Tennessee; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th; Tennessee elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Marquita Bradshaw (D), Bill Hagerty (R), and nine independent candidates ran in the November 3, 2020, general election in Tennessee. On December 17, 2018, incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander (R), first elected in 2002, announced that he would not run for re-election. Alexander stated, "The people of Tennessee have been very generous, electing me to serve more combined years as governor and senator than anyone else from our state. I am deeply grateful, but now it is time for someone else to have that privilege."^[1]

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
April 2, 2020	August 6, 2020	November 3, 2020

Bradshaw defeated Robin Kimbrough Hayes, James Mackler, and two other candidates in the Democratic primary, receiving 35% of the vote followed by Kimbrough and Mackler with 27% and 23%, respectively. No other candidate received over 10% of the vote. In the Republican primary, Hagerty defeated Manny Sethi and 13 other candidates, receiving 52% of the vote to Sethi's 39%. No other candidate received over 5% of the vote.

For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Tennessee modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures and voter identification rules for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Individuals "with a special vulnerability to COVID-19" and "caretakers for individuals with a special vulnerability to COVID-19" were deemed to meet the existing statutory criteria for absentee voting eligibility. A law requiring first-time voters to vote in person was temporarily suspended.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Tennessee

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Tennessee on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Hagerty (R)	62.2	1,840,926
		Marquita Bradshaw (D)	35.2	1,040,691
		Elizabeth McLeod (Independent)	0.6	16,652
		Yomi Faparusi (Independent)	0.4	10,727
	Submit photo	Steven Hooper (Independent)	0.3	9,609
		Kacey Morgan (Independent) (Unofficially withdrew)	0.3	9,598
		Ronnie Henley (Independent)	0.3	8,478
		Aaron James (Independent)	0.2	7,203
		Eric William Stansberry (Independent)	0.2	6,781
		Dean Hill (Independent)	0.2	4,872
		Jeffrey Grunau (Independent)	0.1	4,160
		John Gentry (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	64

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,959,761
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Tom Kovach (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee

Marquita Bradshaw defeated Robin Kimbrough Hayes, James Mackler, Gary Davis, and Mark Pickrell in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee on August 6, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Marquita Bradshaw	35.5	117,962
	Robin Kimbrough Hayes	26.6	88,492
	James Mackler	23.8	78,966
	Gary Davis	9.3	30,758
	Mark Pickrell	4.8	16,045

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 332,223
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Diana Onyejiaka (D)
Tharon Chandler (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Tennessee on August 6, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Hagerty	50.8	331,267
		Manny Sethi	39.4	257,223
		George Flinn Jr.	3.4	22,454
		Jon Henry	1.2	8,104
		Natisha Brooks	1.2	8,072
		Byron Bush	0.8	5,420
	Submit photo	Clifford Adkins	0.8	5,316
		Terry Dicus	0.3	2,279
		Tom Emerson Jr.	0.3	2,252
		David Schuster	0.3	2,045
	Submit photo	John Osborne	0.3	1,877
		Roy Cope	0.3	1,791
		Kent Morrell	0.3	1,769
		Aaron Pettigrew	0.2	1,622
	Submit photo	Glen Neal	0.2	1,233

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 652,724
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Tennessee in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Tennessee, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Tennessee	U.S. Senate	All candidates	25	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	4/2/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[2] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[3]

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Marquita Bradshaw	Democratic Party	$1,628,980	$1,612,771	$16,209	As of December 31, 2020
Bill Hagerty	Republican Party	$15,772,577	$15,717,519	$55,059	As of December 31, 2020
Yomi Faparusi	Independent	$49,874	$49,874	$0	As of December 31, 2020
John Gentry	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Jeffrey Grunau	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Ronnie Henley	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Dean Hill	Independent	$58	$58	$0	As of June 30, 2020
Steven Hooper	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Aaron James	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Elizabeth McLeod	Independent	$9,777	$9,777	$0	As of September 30, 2020
Kacey Morgan	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Eric William Stansberry	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. * Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[4]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Tennessee, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Election history