WASHINGTON (AP) — Tennessee voters will weigh in on the race for the White House in the Nov. 5 election, as well as races for Congress and the state Legislature.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will compete for 11 electoral votes in a state that has supported the Republican nominee in the last six elections. That streak began in 2000, when then-Vice President Al Gore lost his home state to Republican George W. Bush. Tennessee was once a reliable presidential bellwether, having voted for every winning candidate from Democrat Lyndon Johnson through Bush's reelection, but today it is safe Republican territory. Trump won in 2020 by a 23 point margin.
Five independent candidates also appear on the presidential ballot, including Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race in August and endorsed Trump.
The only other statewide race on the ballot is for the U.S. Senate, where Republican incumbent Marsha Blackburn is seeking a second term against Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson. Johnson is a member of the "Tennessee Three," a group of state representatives whose colleagues attempted to expel them from the chamber after they joined a protest for gun control on the chamber floor in 2023.
In the state Legislature, about half of Tennessee's 33 state Senate seats and all 99 state House seats are up for election. Republicans hold lopsided supermajorities in both chambers that are not at risk in November.
The Associated Press doesn't make projections and will declare a winner only when it has determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race hasn't been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, like candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear it hasn't declared a winner and explain why.
Here's a look at what to expect in the 2024 election in Tennessee:
Election Day
Nov. 5.
Poll closing time
7 p.m. CST.
Presidential electoral votes
11 awarded to statewide winner.
Key races and candidates
President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Robert Kennedy Jr. (independent) vs. Jill Stein (independent) and three others.
U.S. Senate: Blackburn (R) vs. Johnson (D) and three others.
Other races of interest
U.S. House, state Senate and state House.
Past presidential results
2020: Trump (R) 61%, Biden (D) 37%, AP race call: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, 7 p.m. CST.
Voter registration and turnout
Registered voters: 4,652,300 (as of June 1, 2024).
Voter turnout in 2020 presidential election: 69% of registered voters.
Pre-Election Day voting
Votes cast before Election Day 2020: about 75% of the total vote.
Votes cast before Election Day 2022: about 51% of the total vote.
Votes cast before Election Day 2024: See AP Advance Vote tracker.
How long does vote-counting take?
First votes reported, Nov. 3, 2020: 7:05 p.m. CST.
By midnight ET: about 98% of total votes cast were reported.
___
Associated Press writers Rebecca Reynolds and Maya Sweedler contributed to this report.
___
Read more about how U.S. elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP's democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.