2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election

2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election

← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →
Turnout50.40% Increase[1] 17.87 pp
 
Nominee Phil Bredesen Van Hilleary
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 837,284 786,803
Percentage 50.65% 47.59%

Bredesen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Hilleary:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election

Don Sundquist
Republican

Elected Governor

Phil Bredesen
Democratic

The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Don Sundquist was term-limited and was prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. To succeed him, former Democratic Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen, who had run against Sundquist in 1994, narrowly defeated Republican United States Congressman Van Hilleary in the general election.

With this win, Bredesen flipped the state back into Democratic control, with the state legislature also being controlled by Democrats.

  1. ^ "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2002". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 5, 2002. Retrieved February 28, 2023.