1994 United States Senate special election in Tennessee

none related races 1994 United States Senate elections the other Senate election in Tennessee held in parallel 1994 United States Senate election in Tennessee March 2026 September 2023 1994 United States Senate special election in Tennessee Tennessee presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1990 1996 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1996 November 8, 1994 150x150px Fred Thompson-cropped.jpg Fred Thompson Republican Party (United States) 885,998 60.44% Jim Cooper biopic (cropped).jpg Jim Cooper Democratic Party (United States) 565,930 38.61% 1994 United States Senate special election in Tennessee results map by county.svg 300px County results Thompson: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% Cooper: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% U.S. Senator Harlan Mathews Democratic Party (United States) Fred Thompson Republican Party (United States) 56.62%November 8, 1994 Tennessee Voter Turnout in 1994 Tennessee Secretary of State https://sos.tn.gov/elections/statistics April 17, 2023 The 1994 United States Senate special election in Tennessee was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic Senator Al Gore resigned from the Senate following his election as Vice President of the United States in 1992, and this led to the 1993 appointment of Harlan Mathews and the subsequent special election.https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3518 Our Campaigns - TN US Senate Special Race - Nov 08, 1994 www.ourcampaigns.com Mathews did not seek election to finish the unexpired term, and Representative Jim Cooper subsequently became the Democratic nominee. However, the Republican nominee Fred Thompson won the seat in a decisive victory. The election was held concurrently with the regular Class 1 Tennessee Senate election, in which Republican Bill Frist defeated incumbent Democrat Jim Sasser. As a result of Thompson and Frist's simultaneous victories in Tennessee, the two elections marked the first time since 1978 that both Senate seats in a state have flipped from one party to the other in a single election cycle. The next time this was repeated was in Georgia in 2021 where both the regular election and the special election went from incumbent Republicans to Democrats. Democratic primary U.S. Representative Jim Cooper, a moderate Democrat from Tennessee's 4th congressional district, won the Democratic nomination for the special election unopposed on August 4, 1994.1994-08-05 LAWYER-ACTOR WINS TENNESSEE SENATE PRIMARY https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/08/05/lawyer-actor-wins-tennessee-senate-primary/c67f4da8-bb8b-4cd3-8d9f-73f0f5978ab6/ 2026-02-10 The Washington Post en-US 0190-8286 Nominee Jim Cooper, U.S. Representative Republican primary Fred Thompson, a Nashville attorney and actor who gained national recognition as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in April 1994 to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Al Gore.Bioguide Search https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/t000457 2026-02-10 bioguide.congress.gov Thompson faced only minimal opposition in the August 4, 1994, Republican primary from John Warnp, a Memphis salesman. He won the nomination easily, with little need for extensive campaigning.An Actor and an Intellectual Vie For Gore's Senate Seat in Tennessee https://www.csmonitor.com/1994/0802/02021.html 2026-02-10 Christian Science Monitor 0882-7729 Nominee Fred Thompson, attorney and actor Election results General election resultshttp://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1994/94Stat.htm#42 94 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION STATISTICS clerk.house.gov Republican Party (United States) Fred Thompson 885,998 60.44% +30.63% Democratic Party (United States) Jim Cooper 565,930 38.61% -29.12% Independent (United States) Charles N. Hancock 4,169 0.28% Independent (United States) Charles Moore 2,219 0.15% Independent (United States) Terry Lytle 1,934 0.13% Independent (United States) Kerry Martin 1,719 0.12% Independent (United States) Jon Walls 1,532 0.10% Independent (United States) Hobart Lumpkin 1,184 0.08% Independent (United States) Don Schneller 1,150 0.08% Write-ins 27 0.00% 320,068 21.83% -16.08% 1,465,862 Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) See also 1994 United States Senate election in Tennessee 1994 United States Senate elections 1994 Tennessee gubernatorial election References United States Senate Tennessee (special) 1994 Tennessee 1994 Tennessee 1994 United States Senate 1994