1982 Tennessee gubernatorial election

← 1978

November 2, 1982

1986 →


Nominee	Lamar Alexander	Randy Tyree
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	737,693	500,937
Percentage	59.6%	40.4%

County results
Alexander: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Tyree: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

Governor before election

Lamar Alexander
Republican

Elected Governor

Lamar Alexander
Republican

Federal government

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The 1982 Tennessee gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1982, to elect the next governor of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican governor Lamar Alexander was now qualified to run for re-election because of Tennessee's 1978 constitutional amendment allowing governors to serve a second consecutive four-year term.^[1] Alexander ran for re-election and defeated Democratic nominee Randy Tyree with 59.6% of the vote in the general election.

Alexander was the first Republican to be re-elected governor since 1912.

Primary elections

Parts of this article (those related to Section) need to be updated. The reason given is: Republican primary not added. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2023)

Primary elections were held on August 5, 1982.^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Randy Tyree, Mayor of Knoxville
Anna Belle Clement O'Brien, State Senator
Tom Henry
Tommy McKnight
John G. Love
Luther M. Kindall
James W. Thomas
Virginia Nyabongo
Boyce McCall

Results

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Randy Tyree	318,205	50.05
	Democratic	Anna Belle Clement O'Brien	254,500	40.03
	Democratic	Tom Henry	19,453	3.06
	Democratic	Tommy McKnight	10,761	1.69
	Democratic	John G. Love	10,600	1.67
	Democratic	Luther M. Kindall	7,792	1.23
	Democratic	James W. Thomas	6,052	0.95
	Democratic	Virginia Nyabongo	5,885	0.93
	Democratic	Boyce McCall	2,577	0.41
Total votes			635,825	100.00

General election

Candidates

Lamar Alexander, Republican
Randy Tyree, Democratic

Results

1982 Tennessee gubernatorial election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lamar Alexander (incumbent)	737,693	59.56%
	Democratic	Randy Tyree	500,937	40.44%
Majority			237,026
Turnout			1,238,927
	Republican hold		Swing

References

^ Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 370–381, 370–393.
^ ^a ^b "Tennessee Blue Book". 1983. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
^ Cook, Rhodes (October 26, 2017). America Votes 32: 2015-2016, Election Returns by State - Rhodes Cook. ISBN 9781506368993. Retrieved December 5, 2018.

v t e (1981 ←) 1982 United States elections (→ 1983)
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