Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2010

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In the Tennessee gubernatorial election of 2010, held on November 2, 2010, Republican Bill Haslam, the Mayor of Knoxville, defeated Democrat Mike McWherter. Incumbent Phil Bredesen, the Democratic Governor of Tennessee, was term-limited.

In the August 5, 2010 primary elections, Mike McWherter faced no primary opposition while Bill Haslam was challenged by at least two credible challengers, Congressman Zach Wamp and Lieutenant Governor Ronald "Ron" Ramsey. Haslam topped both opponents, though he won by GOP nomination by 47.5%, less than a majority.

November 2, 2010 general election results

All results were official as of November 22, 2010.

Governor of Tennessee, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Bill Haslam	65%	1,041,545
	Democratic	Mike McWherter	33.1%	529,851
	Independent	Carl Twofeathers Whitaker	0.4%	6,536
	Independent	Brandon Dodds	0.3%	4,728
	Independent	Bayron Binkley	0.3%	4,663
	Independent	June Griffin	0.2%	2,587
	Independent	Linda K. Perry	0.1%	2,057
	Green	Howard Switzer	0.1%	1,887
	Independent	Samuel D. Duck	0.1%	1,755
	Independent	Thomas Smith, II	0.1%	1,207
	Independent	Toni K. Hall	0.1%	993
	Independent	David Gatchell	0.1%	859
	Independent	Boyce T. McCall	0.1%	828
	Independent	James Reesor	0.1%	809
	Independent	Mike Knois	0%	600
	Independent	Donald R. McFolin	0%	583
	Write-In	Various	0%	61
Total Votes				1,601,549
Election results via U.S. Election Atlas

August 5, 2010 primary

2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary
Candidates		Percentage
Bill Haslam (R)		47.5%
Joe Kirkpatrick (R)		0.9%
Basil Marceaux(R)		0.5%
Ron Ramsey (R)		22.0%
Zach Wamp		29.1%
Total votes		717,038

Inauguration and transition

Inaugural date

Governor-elect Bill Haslam will be inaugurated on January 15, 2011.

The official inauguration website is, as of November 22nd, not yet live. Haslam's Campaign Finance Director, Kim Kaegi, will be in charge of planning for the inaugural celebrations.

Transition team

Bill Haslam is now serving as the transition website.

The transition team may also be reached at:

1701 West End Avenue
Suite 300
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: 615 254 4799

Tom Ingram, who served as general consultant to the gubernatorial campaign, will direct the transition. Ingram's top aides will be Haslam's campaign manager, Mark Cate, and Larry Levine, the President of the Center for Nonprofit Management.

Beyond that, Governor-elect Haslam has said he will not name formal transition committees and will instead rely on volunteers and on the input of Tennessee's citizens.

Appointments in the Haslam Administration

On November 21, 2010, Governor-elect Haslam named his first appointee, Herbert Slatery, to be Legal Counsel to the Governor. Slatery is currently partner at Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis in Knowville.

Haslam has indicated he will make Slatery's position a cabinet level job.

Race ratings

See also: Gubernatorial elections 2010, Race tracking

2010 Race Rankings Tennessee
Race Tracker		Race Rating
The Cook Political Report		Likely Republican
Congressional Quarterly Politics		Leans Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball		Likely Republican
Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard		Solid GOP
The Rothenberg Political Report		Currently Safe Republican
Overall Call		Republican

Changes

2. Rothenberg moved races from "Republican Favored" to "Currently Safe Republican" in its October 1st ratings.

1. Cook Political Report moved races from "Lean Republican" to "Likely Republican" in its September 30th ratings.

Candidates

The November Ballot – Who Made It? Tennessee Governor
Nominee		Affiliation
Mike McWherter		Democrat
William "Bill" Haslam		Republican
Howard Switzer		Green
June Griffin		Independent
Brandon Dodds		Independent
Samuel David Duck - withdrew		Independent
Carl Twofeathers Whitaker		Independent
Boyce T. McCall		Independent
Toni K. Hall		Independent
Donald Ray McFolin		Independent
James Reesor		Independent
Bayron Binkley		Independent
Mike Knois		Independent
Thomas Smith, II		Independent
David Gatchell		Independent
Linda Kay Perry		Independent
This lists candidates who won their state's primary or convention, or who were unopposed, and who were officially certified for the November ballot by their state's election authority.

Democratic

• Attorney Mike McWherter worked in private practice and is a small business owner. He had never held elected office before entering the race.

Green

• Howard Switzer

Independent

• Bayron E. Binkley, Jr., a real estate broker a banker
• Brandon Dodds grew up on a family farm in Newbern, Tennessee, where he still resides and practices medicine as a optometrist.
• Samuel David Duck touted himself as an Independent Federalist and stressed that he has never run for office before.
• David Gatchell had his petition pulled at the Division of Election on March 29, 2010.
• Toni K. Hall
• Mike Knois
• Boyce T. McCall, Sr. is a Korean War veteran and retired police officer who also owned his own electrical business.
• Donald Ray McFolin
• Linda Kay Perry
• James Reesor, a oil painter, cartoonist, and self-styled Prophet.
• Thomas Smith, II
• Carl "Two Feathers" Whitaker, a police officer and owner of a security firm

Prohibition Party

• June Griffin

Republican

• William "Bill" Haslam, the mayor of Knoxville for seven years, started his professional career in the travel business, working at a family owner firm
• Joe Kirkpatrick has ended his campaign and endorsed Ron Ramsey
• Basil Marceaux, Sr., a Marine veteran, also ran for U.S. Senate seat.
• Lt. Governor Ronald "Ron" Ramsey, also the Speaker of the State Senate, is a small business owner and has been active in Tennessee business and politics for several years. He served in the State House of Representatives before winning election to the Senate and the Lt. Gov's office.
• Congressman Zach Wamp was a small business owner and real estate broker before winning the state's 3rd Congressional seat. In 14 years in Congress, he has sat on the Energy and Water Sub Committee and has sat on the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs as the ranking member. Early in his Congressional tenure, he established the Tennessee Technology Corridor.

Polling

General election polling

2010 Race for Tennessee Governor - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported		Haslam (R)	McWherter (D)	Other	Don't Know
October 7, 2010		59%	31%	2%	7%
August 9, 2010		56%	31%	3%	10%
(Sample)		n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

Primary election polling

2010 Race for Tennessee Governor - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported		Haslam	McWherter	Other	Don't Know
June 17, 2010		50%	32%	5%	14%
March 24, 2010		45%	27%	5%	23%
Date Reported		Ramsey	McWherter	Other	Don't Know
June 17, 2010		44%	33%	7%	16%
March 24, 2010		43%	29%	5%	23%
Date Reported		Wamp	McWherter	Other	Don't Know
June 17, 2010		44%	33%	8%	14%
March 24, 2010		41%	31%	7%	22%
(Sample)		n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

Issue positions

Healthcare

Phil Bredesen, the outgoing Democratic governor of Tennessee, issued an indirect challenged to his successor on the issue of ObamaCare. In his book, "Fresh Medicine," Bredesen calls the bill's passage, "a stunning disappointment" and laments that, "[t]he problem was expanding coverage is about all we did.”

Bredesen instead called for rebuilding the nation's healthcare delivery system entirely, saying Obama's signature bill instead added on services and entitlements to a system that couldn't cover its expenses as it is.

"Government loves complexity, rules and red tape, but we may have outdone ourselves this time,” Bredesen writes. “Reform offered a chance to clean up the baroque system we have created over the years, reduce bureaucracy, lower administrative cost and give clarity and focus to a major part of where we spend our taxpayers’ money.

“Instead, we created more complexity, more regulations and the need for more bureaucracy.”

As governor, Bredesen trimmed the rolls and cut benefits for TennCare, moves that were controversial and that he maintains were absolutely needed. However, he has gone on record saying he feels all he did was buy Tennessee about a decade and that the enxt governor will have much harder choices to make surrounding government provided medical care.

Endorsements

The NRA declines to make an endorsement

In a state where a concealed carry permit allows you to take a loaded firearm into a bar, the National Rifle Associaiton is bound to hold some sway. So, when they officially announced they would make no endorsement in the gubernatorial race, it mattered.

Republican Bill Haslam and Democrat Mike McWherter respectively get a B- and a C- from the NRA for their overall positions on Second Amendment rights. It seems those grades just weren't good enough to land an endorsement.

NRA spokeswoman Rachel Parsons pointed out that McWherter, seeking public office for the first time, had no voting record to consider. However, she said the NRA passed him over for an endorsement based on a questionnaire he completed.

The Republican would fare no better. Parsons remarked on Haslam's generally strong record supporting un rights but noted that, as the Mayor of Knoxville, he was weak on supporting the bill to allow concealed carry in restaurants and bars.

Given his poll numbers, Haslam didn't need to backing of the NRA, traditionally aligned with Republican candidates, to win. In other key races, though, the GOP was less than pleased to see NRA endorsement go to Democrats.

Primary news

A day out from the primary, the Republican field may already be down to one contender - Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, who has a double-digit lead over both Congressman Zach Wamp and Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey. Haslam's 36% puts him well ahead of both Wamp, who wins 25%, and Ramsey, who comes in third with 20%. Last minute campaigning has been heavily focused in the west of the state, where polls indicate the GOP primary is the tightest.

What Wamp and Ramsey lack in poll numbers they are making up in name recognition, as recent firestorms in the race attest. Congressman Wamp suggested in an interview with the National Journal that, ""I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government." While he was specifically speaking in terms of response to increasing federal mandates on states, the secessionist flavor of his remarks made waves.

Ron Ramsey, meanwhile, suggested at a townhall that Islam might be a cult and might not qualify for Constitution protections of religion, answering a question, in part, ""Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it."

Gubernatorial electoral history

1998 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
Don Sundquist (R)		68.9%
John Jay Hooker (D)		29.6%
George Alexander Hamilton, Sr. (I)		0.6%
Irwin W. Gibbs (I)		0.5%
Lonnie L. Creech (I)		0.4%
Total votes		971,994

2002 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
Phil Bredsen (D)		50.6%
Van Hilleary (R)		47.6%
Edwin Sanders (I)		0.5%
Carl Whitaker (I)		0.3%
John Hooker (I)		0.3%
David Gatchell (I)		0.2%
Gabriel Givens (I)		0.1%
Ray Ledford (I)		0.1%
James Herren (I)		0.1%
Total votes		1,652,791

2006 Gubernatorial Results
Candidates		Percentage
Phil Bredesen (D)		68.6%
Jim Bryson (R)		29.7%
Carl Whitaker (I)		0.6%
George Banks (I)		0.4%
Charles Smith (I)		0.2%
Howard Switzer (I)		0.2%
David Gatchell (I)		0.1%
Marivuana Leinoff (I)		0.1%
Total votes		1,818,542

Presidential electoral history

2000 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George W. Bush (R)		51.15%
Al Gore (D)		47.28%

2004 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George W. Bush (R)		56.80%
John Kerry (D)		42.53%

2008 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
John McCain (R)		56.85%
Barack Obama (D)		41.79%

1992 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
George H.W. Bush (R)		42.43%
Bill Clinton (D)		47.08%

1996 Presidential Results
Candidates		Percentage
Bob Dole (R)		45.59%
Bill Clinton (D)		48.00%

See also

• Gubernatorial elections, 2010
• Tennessee lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010

External links

• Tennessee Department of State: Elections

• Tennessee Governor's Race at www.CQPolitics.com
• Tennessee 2010 Governor Candidates at www.FollowTheMoney.com
• Tennessee: 2010 Governor at www.Pollster.com
• Election 2010 Tennessee Governor at www.RasmussenReports.com
• 2010 Tennessee Governor Race at www.RealClearPolitics.com

Candidate pages

• Binkley for Governor 2010
• Brandon Dodds for Governor of Tennessee
• Samuel David Duck for Governor of Tennessee in 2010
• David 'None of the Above' Gatchell for a New Election
• Bill Haslam for Governor (dead link)
• Joe Kirkpatrick 4 Gov
• Basil Marceaux for Governor
• Boyce McCall, Sr. for Governor
• Mike McWherter for Governor
• Ron Ramsey for Governor
• James Reesor for Governor
• Carl Whitaker for Governor
• Zach Wamp for Governor