2000 United States Senate election in Tennessee

2000 United States Senate election in Tennessee
Turnout	63.03% 6.41 pp
	Frist: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Clark: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
U.S. senator before election; Bill Frist; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Bill Frist; Republican

The 2000 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the general election including the 2000 U.S. presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bill Frist won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic candidate Jeff Clark.

Bill Frist vastly overperformed George W. Bush in the concurrent presidential election by 13.95%. Frist also improved on his performance from 1994.

Republican primary

Bill Frist, incumbent U.S. Senator was unopposed in the Republican primary. He received 186,882 votes.^[2]

Republican primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Frist (Incumbent)	186,882	100.00
Total votes			186,882	100.00

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held on August 3, 2000. In a field of five candidates, Jeff Clark, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University, edged out John Jay Hooker to win the nomination.^[3]^[2]

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Clark	64,851	34.23%
	Democratic	John Jay Hooker	64,041	33.81%
	Democratic	Mary Taylor-Shelby	28,604	15.10%
	Democratic	Shannon Wood	25,372	13.39%
	Democratic	James Looney	6,354	3.35%
	Democratic	Write-ins	218	0.12%
Total votes			189,440	100.00%

General election

Tennessee United States Senate election, 2000^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bill Frist (Incumbent)	1,255,444	65.10%	+8.75%
	Democratic	Jeff Clark	621,152	32.21%	−9.89%
	Green	Tom Burrell	25,815	1.34%	N/A
	Independent	Charles F. Johnson	10,004	0.52%	+0.07
	Independent	Robert Watson	8,416	0.44%	N/A
	Independent	David Jarrod Ownby	4,388	0.23%	N/A
	Independent	Joel Kinstle	3,135	0.16%	N/A
	Write-in		259	0.00%	N/A
Majority			634,292	32.89%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

White (Largest city: Sparta)
Cannon (Largest city: Woodbury)
DeKalb (Largest city: Smithville)
Franklin (Largest city: Winchester)
Grundy (largest municipality: Altamont)
Van Buren (largest municipality: Spencer)
Perry (largest municipality: Linden)
Dickson (Largest city: Dickson)
Haywood (largest city: Brownsville)
Lake (largest municipality: Tiptonville)
Stewart (largest municipality: Dover)
Benton (largest municipality: Camden)
Houston (largest city: Erin)
Humphreys (largest municipality: Waverly)
Hickman (Largest city: Centerville)
Giles (Largest city: Pulaski)
Marshall (Largest city: Lewisburg)
Bedford (Largest city: Shelbyville)
Smith (largest municipality: Carthage)
Trousdale (largest municipality: Hartsville)
Clay (largest municipality: Celina)
Overton (largest municipality: Livingston)
Jackson (largest town: Gainesboro)

References

General

^ "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2000". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 7, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "On Politics: Tennessee U.S. Senate". www.washingtonpost.com.
^ "The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search".
^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".

Specific

"2000 Senatorial General Election Results - Tennessee". www.uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 9, 2009.

[1] "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2000". Tennessee Secretary of State. November 7, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2023.

[WashPost-2] "On Politics: Tennessee U.S. Senate". www.washingtonpost.com.

[3] "The Tuscaloosa News - Google News Archive Search".

[4] "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".

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