2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election

The 2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the next governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Don Sundquist was term-limited and was prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee from seeking a third consecutive term. To succeed him, former Democratic Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen, who had run against Sundquist in 1994, narrowly defeated Republican United States Congressman Van Hilleary in the general election.

With this win, Bredesen flipped the state back into Democratic control, with the state legislature also being controlled by Democrats.

Candidates

 * Van Hilleary, Representative from Tennessee's 4th congressional district
 * Jim Henry, former Minority Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives
 * Bob Tripp
 * Dave Kelley
 * Jessie D. McDonald

Candidates

 * Phil Bredesen, former Mayor of Nashville, 1994 Democratic nominee for governor
 * Randy Nichols, Knox County District Attorney General
 * Charles E. Smith, former Tennessee Commissioner of Education
 * Charles V. Brown
 * L. Best
 * Floyd R. Conover

Major

 * Phil Bredesen (D)
 * Van Hilleary (R)
 * Edwin C. Sanders (I)
 * Carl Two Feathers Whitaker (I)
 * John Jay Hooker (I)
 * David Gatchell (I)
 * Gabriel Givens (I)
 * Ray Ledford (I)
 * James E. Herren (I)
 * Charles V. Wilhoit, Jr. (I)
 * Marivuana Stout Leinoff (I)
 * Francis E. Waldron (I)
 * Ronny Simmons (I)
 * Robert O. Watson (I)
 * Basil Marceaux (I)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
• Knox (Largest city: Knoxville)

• Cocke (Largest city: Newport)

• Anderson (Largest city: Oak Ridge)

• Carroll (Largest city: McKenzie)

• Cheatham (Largest city: Ashland City)

• Coffee (Largest city: Tullahoma)

• Dyer (Largest city: Dyersburg)

• Maury (Largest city: Columbia)

• Meigs (Largest city: Decatur)

• Montgomery (Largest city: Clarksville)

• Morgan (Largest city: Coalfield)

• Obion (Largest city: Union City)

• Polk (Largest city: Benton)

• Putnam (Largest city: Cookeville)

• Roane (Largest city: Oak Ridge)

• Sequatchie (Largest city: Dunlap)

• Bedford (Largest city: Shelbyville)

• Campbell (Largest city: LaFollette)

• Cannon (Largest city: Woodbury)

• Crockett (Largest city: Bells)

• Decatur (Largest city: Parsons)

• DeKalb (Largest city: Smithville)

• Dickson (Largest city: Dickson)

• Franklin (Largest city: Winchester)

• Gibson (Largest city: Humboldt)

• Giles (Largest city: Pulaski)

• Henry (Largest city: Paris)

• Hickman (Largest city: Centerville)

• Lewis (Largest city: Hohenwald)

• Marion (Largest city: Jasper)

• Marshall (Largest city: Lewisburg)

• Robertson (Largest city: Springfield)

• Warren (Largest city: McMinnville)

• White (Largest city: Sparta)

• Benton (largest municipality: Camden)

• Clay (largest municipality: Celina)

• Grundy (largest municipality: Altamont)

• Lauderdale (largest municipality: Ripley)

• Overton (largest municipality: Livingston)

• Perry (largest municipality: Linden)

• Smith (largest municipality: Carthage)

• Stewart (largest municipality: Dover)

• Trousdale (largest municipality: Hartsville)

• Haywood (largest city: Brownsville)

• Shelby (largest city: Memphis)

• Davidson (largest city: Nashville)

• Houston (largest city: Erin)

• Jackson (largest town: Gainesboro)

• Hardeman (largest city: Bolivar)

• Rhea (Largest city: Dayton)