Democrats upset incumbent House member in deep-red Tennessee
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Amid a historic blue wave, Tennessee Democrats apparently scored a shocking upset and flipped a Republican U.S. House seat while narrowly falling short in four other races that the state GOP gerrymandered earlier this year.
- The unexpected win came in District 4 where unheralded Democrat Victoria Broderick unseated incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais by less than 300 votes, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State's election results.
Why it matters: It was a rare victory for Democrats in a state where Republicans have enjoyed a political stranglehold for two decades. The race attracted very little fundraising.
- Democrats lost by just a few percentage points in other districts spanning from Memphis to Nashville.
The Associated Press had not called the race as of 5am ET Wednesday, but Secretary of State posted the "unofficial final results" in the Broderick-DesJarlais race.
- It's unclear if any provisional or mail-in ballots still needed to be counted. The margin was so thin, a rare recount procedure could be triggered.
The big picture: Democrats haven't won a critical race since Gov. Phil Bredesen and a slate of House reps won reelection in 2006.
- The victory by Broderick — a political unknown despite having run for the same seat two years ago — and the narrow defeats in the other House races were all the more amazing since Republicans gerrymandered the state's House map earlier this year specifically to give themselves a decisive advantage.
- Trump won the district, which spans from Nashville to the rural center of the state, by more than 20 percentage points.
By the numbers: Broderick appeared to win by 280 votes — 0.14 percentage points — over DesJarlais, who was first elected in 2010. DesJarlais overcame sex scandals early in his political career and routinely won reelection with ease.
- Just two years earlier, DesJarlais defeated Broderick by 43 points.
The intrigue: Incumbent Rep. Matt Van Epps, who won a special election last year to the District 7 that represents North and West Nashville, defeated Democrat Darden Copeland by two points.
- State Rep. Johnny Garrett, the Republican nominee, bested Democrat Mike Croley by three points.
Catch up quick: Earlier this year, Republicans redrew the House map in hopes of flipping the Memphis-area seat held by Rep. Steve Cohen to give themselves a 9-0 majority.
- To accomplish this, they carved up Shelby County into multiple districts.
Zoom out: State Sen. Brent Taylor, the Republican nominee, defeated state Rep. Justin Pearson, one of the Tennessee Three, for Cohen's old seat. Taylor won just a few days after the revelation he sent unsolicited nude photos to people.
- After defeating the embattled U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in the Republican primary for the District 5 seat, Charlie Hatcher was viewed as a clear favorite against Democrat Chaz Molder, the mayor of suburban Columbia.
- Hatcher won by just six points.
One bright spot for Republicans came in the Senate race where incumbent Sen. Bill Hagerty won by 13 points.
The bottom line: The national blue wave didn't completely crash down on Tennessee, but it put Democrats within striking distance and perhaps created new battlegrounds heading into 2028.