1988 United States Senate election in Tennessee

The 1988 United States election in Tennessee was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jim Sasser won re-election to a third term, defeating feating Republican nominee Bill Anderson with 65.1% of the vote.

As of 2024, this was the last time the Democrats won the Class 1 Senate seat from Tennessee.

Democratic

 * Jim Sasser, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1977

Republican

 * Bill Anderson, attorney

Campaign
Sasser raised $1.5 million in 1987 to ward off significant opposition according to his aide Doug Hall. Anderson started raising funds for a congressional campaign in 1985, under the belief that U.S. Representative Jimmy Quillen would retire, but Quillen sought reelection. Anderson instead switched to a senatorial campaign.

Sasser declined to acknowledge Anderson's attacks during the campaign and instead focused on his congressional work while his staff responded to the attacks. Anderson called for six televised debates, but Sasser rejected the demand and only accepted one debate in Nashville.

After the election Anderson stated that polling conducted by his campaign reported that "one out of three Tennesseans had not yet identified who I was and what my message means".

Sasser won every county in the state except for one. He received 58% of the vote in the eastern region of the state which is usually Republican, 68% in the middle, and 71% in the west.