TENNESSEE
      Nov. 2, 2010 Governor                                      

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 Sen.2
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+Bill Haslam (R)
1,041,545
 		65.03%
Mike McWherter (D)
 		529,851
 		33.08%
Carl Twofeathers Whitaker (I)
 6,536
 		0.41%
Brandon Dodds (I)
 4,728
 		0.29%
Bayron Binkley (I)
 4,663
 		0.29%
June Griffin (I)
 2,587
 		0.16%
Linda Kay Perry (I)
 2,057
 		0.13%
Howard M. Switzer (I)
 1,887
 		0.12%
Samuel David Duck (I)
 1,775
 		0.11%
Thomas Smith II (I)
 1,207
 <0.10%
Toni K. Hall (I)
 993
David Gatchall (I)
 859
Boyce T. McCall (I)
 828
James Reesor (I)
 809
Mike Knois (I)
 600
Donald Ray McFolin (I)
 583
write-ins (3)
 61

1,601,569
Fourteen independents at <1% each and three write-ins totaled 30,173 votes (1.88%).

Plurality:  511,694 votes (31.95 percentage points).
 TN Secretary of State

REPUBLICAN PICK UP
Notes:  Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) was term limited.  Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (R) defeated businessman Mike McWherter (D) by a wide margin.

On Jan. 4, 2009, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced on Jan. 4, 2009 that he would not run for Governor.  The Republican field quickly took shape as Shelby Co. District Attorney Bill Gibbons (announced Jan. 4), Chattanooga area U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (announced Jan. 5), Haslam (announced Jan. 6), and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (announced Feb. 28) entered the race.  Gibbons ended his campaign on Mar. 26, 2010.  Haslam served as president of Pilot Corporation, the company founded by his father.  He was elected Mayor of Knoxville in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.

McWherter launched his campaign on April 23, 2009 and ended up as the only Democrat on the primary ballot after a number of Democratic candidates fell by the wayside—including state Sen. Roy Herron (ended campaign on Dec. 2, 2009 in favor of running for Congress), Nashville businessman Ward Cammack (ended campaign ea. Dec. 2009), former House Majority Leader Kim McMillan (ended campaign on Mar. 31, 2010 in favor of running for Mayor of Clarksville).  McWherter, the son of former Gov. Ned McWherter (elected in 1986 and re-elected in 1990), runs a beer distribution business in Jackson.  He looked into but ruled out challenging Sen. Lamar Alexander in 2008.

Before the Aug. 5 primary, four of the top candidates–Republicans Haslam, Ramsey and Wamp and Democrat McWherter–debated at Belmont University hosted by WSMV-TV in mid-July (>).  Several lesser known candidates also debated on Aug. 4 (>).

In the Republican primary, Haslam finished first with 343,817 votes (47.40%) followed by Wamp at 211,735 (29.19%), Ramsey at 159,555 (22.00%), Joe Kirkpatrick at 6,787 and Basil Marceaux, Sr. at 3,514 of 725,408 votes tallied.

Haslam and McWherter debated three times:

Sept. 14 - at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, broadcast by CBS affiliates;

Oct. 7 - at University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and

Oct. 9 - at WREG-TV studios in Memphis (>).

The Haslam campaign reported total receipts of $18.2 million including $4.3 million in loans from the candidate, while the McWherter campamaign reported total receipts of $3.5 million including $1.5 million in loans from the candidate. 

Haslam carried 90 of 95 counties including all counties in Eastern Tennessee.  Haslam's campaign manager Mark Cate noted that Haslam "secure[d] the highest percentage of the vote for a non-incumbent in modern Tennessee history."


Campaign Managers:
Bill Haslam:  Mark Cate
(July 2009)  Vice president at Lawler-Wood, LLC in Knoxville, July 2007-June 2009.  Vice president at Maryville College, July 1991-June 2007.  M.S. in educational psychology from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1991; B.S. in business management/economics from Carson-Newman College, 1987.  Grew up in Maryville.

Mike McWherter:  Kim Sasser Hayden
(June 2009)  Executive director of the Tennessee Democratic Party, Feb. 2007-Feb. 2009.  Deputy director of Tennessee Democratic Victory 2006, July-Nov. 2006; statewide field director on Bredesen for Governor, Oct. 2005-July 2006.  Assistant to Gov. Bredesen, 2005. Campaign manager on Lincoln Davis for Congress re-election (TN-4), Apr.-Nov. 2004.  Tennessee political director/Georgia trip director on John Edwards for President, 2003-04.  State field director on Bredesen for Governor, July 2001-Nov. 2002.  Bill clerk in the TN House of Representatives, Feb.-July 2001.  Regional field director in Kansas City for the Missouri Democratic Coordinated Campaign, July-Nov. 2000.  A regional field director in Manchester, NH and Austin, TX on Al Gore for President, 1999-2000.  B.A. in history/political science from Vanderbilt University, 1999.


See also:
Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance.  Audits: Haslam |  McWherter.

Andy Sher.  "McWherter says campaign 'right where I want to be right now."  Chattanooga Times Free Press, Sept. 28, 2010.

Jessica Taylor and Alex Isenstadt.  "Haslam wins GOP nod in Tennessee."  Politico, Aug. 5, 2010.

Alexander Burns.  "McWherter puts in a million."  Politico, Mar. 31, 2010.

Emily McCoramick Sells.  "The Story of Twofeathers."  Josephine's Journal (The Overton County News).

Ken Whitehouse.  "Gubernatorial candidate bringing out the big guns."  Nashville Post, Feb. 19, 2009.






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