Editing Tennessee (section)

==Politics==
{{See also|Political party strength in Tennessee}}

The politics of Tennessee is dominated by the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Doble |first1=Rob |title=Analysis: The polarization express |url=https://tennesseelookout.com/2020/12/24/analysis-the-polarization-express/ |access-date=May 28, 2021 |work=Tennessee Lookout |date=December 24, 2020}}</ref><ref name=knoxnews1120>{{cite news |last1=Clouse |first1=Allie |title=As Georgia becomes a blue wedge in the Deep South, Tennessee cleaves tighter to the GOP |url=https://knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/06/tennessee-is-solidly-republican-and-that-is-not-going-to-change/6162052002/ |access-date=May 28, 2021 |work=Knoxville News-Sentinel |date=November 6, 2020}}</ref> Republicans currently hold both of the state's [[List of United States senators from Tennessee|U.S. Senate seats]], 8 out of 9 [[Tennessee's congressional districts|Congressional seats]], 75 of 99 state [[Tennessee House of Representatives|House seats]], and 27 of 33 [[Tennessee Senate|state Senate seats]]. [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] strength is largely concentrated in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], and parts of [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], and [[Clarksville, Tennessee|Clarksville]]. Several [[suburb]]an areas of Nashville and Memphis also contain significant Democratic minorities. Tennessee is one of thirteen states which holds its presidential primaries on [[Super Tuesday]].<ref name="ST2020">{{cite web |title=Super Tuesday 2020 |url=https://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2020-presidential-primary-schedule-calendar/super-tuesday-2020/ |website=US Presidential Election News |access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref> Tennessee does not require voters to declare a party affiliation when registering. The state is one of eight states which require voters to present a form of [[voter identification laws in the United States|photo identification]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx |title=Voter Identification Requirements |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=ncsl.org |publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures |access-date=May 25, 2021}}</ref> Tennessee has one of the highest rates of [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States|felony disenfranchisement]], with nearly 10% of its voting-age population ineligible to vote. The state also has the highest rate of Black and Latino felony disenfranchisement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wadhwani |first=Anita |date=October 23, 2023 |title=Tennessee Attorney General moves to shut down suit by NAACP over restoration of voting rights |url=https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/10/23/tennessee-attorney-general-moves-to-shut-down-suit-by-naacp-over-restoration-of-voting-rights/ |work=Tennessee Lookout |location=Nashville |access-date=October 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Budd |first1=Kristen M. |last2=Stammen |first2=Emma |last3=Threadcraft |first3=Whitney |date=January 10, 2023 |title=Tennessee Denies Voting Rights to Over 470,000 Citizens |url=https://www.sentencingproject.org/fact-sheet/tennessee-denies-voting-rights-in-prison-on-probation-and-parole/ |work=The Sentencing Project |access-date=October 28, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Official Vice Presidential portrait of Al Gore|[[Al Gore]] served as a [[List of United States senators from Tennessee|United States Senator]] from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as [[Vice President of the United States]] (1993–2001)]]
Between the end of the Civil War and the mid-20th century, Tennessee was part of the Democratic [[Solid South]], but had the largest Republican minority of any former Confederate state.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|p=x}} During Reconstruction, freedmen and former free blacks were granted the right to vote; most joined the Republican Party. Numerous African Americans were elected to local offices, and some to state office. However, the Democratic Party regained control of the state in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Following Reconstruction, Tennessee continued to have competitive party politics, but in the 1880s, the White-dominated state government passed [[Jim Crow laws]], one of which imposed a [[poll tax]] requirement for voter registration. These served to [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchise]] most African Americans, and their power in state and local politics was markedly reduced. After the disenfranchisement of blacks, the Republican Party became a primarily white [[Sectionalism|sectional]] party supported mostly in East Tennessee. In the early 1900s, the state legislature approved legislation allowing cities to adopt a [[city commission government|commission form of government]] based on [[at-large voting]] as a means to limit African American political participation.<ref name="buch">{{cite court |litigants=Buchanan v. City of Jackson, Tenn. |vol=683 |reporter=F. Supp. |opinion=1515 |court=W.D. Tenn. |date=1988 |url=https://casetext.com/case/buchanan-v-city-of-jackson |access-date=July 3, 2018}}</ref> Not until after passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] were African Americans able to regain their full voting rights.{{sfn|Lamon|1980|pp=59–60}}

[[File:Howard Baker photo.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Portrait of Howard Baker, a United States Senator from Tennessee who became known as "The Great Conciliator"|[[Howard Baker]] served as [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Minority and Majority Leader]] from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator"]]
Between the end of Reconstruction and the mid-20th century, Tennessee voted consistently Democratic in Presidential elections, except in two nationwide Republican [[Landslide victory|landslides]] in the 1920s. Tennesseans narrowly supported [[Warren G. Harding]] over Ohio Governor [[James M. Cox|James Cox]] in 1920,{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|pp=299–300}} and more decisively voted for [[Herbert Hoover]] over New York Governor [[Al Smith]] in 1928.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|p=314}} During the first half of the 20th century, state politics were dominated by the Democratic [[E. H. Crump#Political machine|Crump machine]] in Memphis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Biles |first=Roger |title=Memphis In the Great Depression |publisher=University of Tennessee Press|location=Knoxville, TN |date=1986 |pages=88–107 |isbn=978-1572331570}}</ref> For most of the second half of the 20th century, Tennessee was a [[swing state]] in presidential elections.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Doble |first=Rob |title=Analysis: The polarization express |url=https://tennesseelookout.com/2020/12/24/analysis-the-polarization-express/ |work=Tennessee Lookout |date=December 24, 2020 |access-date=July 22, 2021}}</ref> During this time, Democratic presidential nominees from Southern states, including [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], [[Jimmy Carter]], and [[Bill Clinton]], tended to fare better in Tennessee than their Northern counterparts, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas. In the 1950s, Tennessee twice voted for Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], former Allied Commander of the Armed Forces during World War II.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|pp=350–354}} [[Howard Baker]], first elected in 1966, became the first Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee since Reconstruction.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|pp=366–367}} The Republican [[Southern strategy]] did not have as much of an effect in Tennessee as in most Southern states, but the elections of [[Winfield Dunn]] as governor and [[Bill Brock]] to the U.S. Senate in 1970 further helped make the GOP competitive among Whites in statewide elections.{{sfn|Langsdon|2000|pp=370–373}} In the [[2000 United States presidential election in Tennessee|2000 presidential election]], Vice President [[Al Gore]], who had previously served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee, failed to carry his home state, an unusual occurrence but indicative of strengthening Republican support.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Pérez-Peña |first=Richard |author1-link=Richard Pérez-Peña |title=Loss In Home State Leaves Gore Depending on Florida |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/us/the-2000-elections-tennessee-loss-in-home-state-leaves-gore-depending-on-florida.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710233040/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/us/the-2000-elections-tennessee-loss-in-home-state-leaves-gore-depending-on-florida.html |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=May 5, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 2000 |page=B1}}</ref>

Beginning in the early 21st century, Tennessee transitioned into a solid Republican state, primarily due to rural white voters who have rejected the increasing [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberalism]] of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schelzig |first1=Erik |title=Battleground no longer: Here's the Almanac of American Politics' overview of Tennessee |url=https://onthehill.tnjournal.net/battleground-no-longer-heres-the-almanac-of-american-politics-overview-of-tennessee/ |access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=The Tennessee Journal |date=August 5, 2019 |location=Brentwood, Tennessee}}</ref><ref name=flyer>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Jackson |title=How Tennessee Turned Red |url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/how-tennessee-turned-red |access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=Memphis Flyer |date=July 31, 2014}}</ref> In [[2004 United States presidential election in Tennessee|2004]], Republican President [[George W. Bush]] increased his margin of victory in the state from a 4% to a 14% margin in 2000.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dade |first=Corey |title=Tennessee Resists Obama Wave |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122731165800249331 |url-status=live |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=November 22, 2008 |access-date=August 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710044942/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122731165800249331 |archive-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/tennessee/tennessee_mccain_leads_both_democrats_by_double_digits |title=Tennessee: McCain Leads Both Democrats by Double Digits |work=Rasmussen Reports |date=April 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224074929/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/tennessee/tennessee_mccain_leads_both_democrats_by_double_digits |archive-date=December 24, 2008}}</ref> In 2007, [[Ron Ramsey]] became the first Republican Speaker of the State Senate since Reconstruction,<ref>{{cite news |last=Fender |first=Jessica |title=New lieutenant governor outlines areas of interest |url=https://tennessean.newspapers.com/clip/76859572/new-lieutenant-governor-outlines-areas/ |access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=The Tennessean |date=January 10, 2007 |location=Nashville |page=8A |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and the following year the Republicans gained control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Emery |first1=Theo |last2=Paine |first2=Anne |title=Republicans claim majority in state House |url=https://tennessean.newspapers.com/clip/76859930/republicans-claim-majority-in-state/ |access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=The Tennessean |date=November 5, 2008 |location=Nashville |page=12A |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Voters, however, continued to elect [[Moderate (politics)|moderate]] Republicans, such as centrists [[Bill Haslam]] and [[Lamar Alexander]], until the late 2010s with the rise of [[Trumpism]] in the GOP at a nationwide scale.<ref name="plott">{{cite news |last=Plott |first=Elaina |title=Tennessee Republicans, Once Moderate and Genteel, Turn Toxic in the Trump Era |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/us/politics/tennnessee-trump-republican-party.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805090229/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/us/politics/tennnessee-trump-republican-party.html |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=May 26, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=August 5, 2020}}</ref> Since 2016, Tennessee has been the most populous state to vote Republican by more than 60% in presidential elections,<ref>{{cite web |title=Tennessee Presidential Election Voting History |url=https://www.270towin.com/states/Tennessee |website=270towin.com |publisher=Electoral Adventures LLC |access-date=May 28, 2021}}</ref> and in [[2020 United States presidential election in Tennessee|2020]] voted Republican by the largest margin of any state in terms of number of votes.<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 3, 2020|title=Tennessee Voter Surveys: How Different Groups Voted|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/ap-polls-tennessee.html|url-access=limited|access-date=November 17, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>