ELECTORAL VOTES 11

2012 ELECTION Safe Republican

ABOUT
TENNESSEE

2010 Census Reapportionment: As has been the case since 1984, Tennessee will remain at 11 electoral votes for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.



Tennessee joined the Union as the 16th state in June 1796; it would be the last state admitted during the 18th century. Tennessee seceded from the Union during the Civil War and did not participate in the 1864 election. Like many southern states, Tennessee voted almost exclusively Democratic from Reconstruction until after World War II. Since the 1950s, Republicans have usually won here, although there have been a few exceptions, most recently Bill Clinton (with home-state Senator Al Gore as vice president) in 1992 and 1996. Interestingly, Mr. Gore lost the state in 2000 when he headed the Democratic ticket. In 2008, John McCain defeated Barack Obama by a margin of 57% to 42%. Although wrong in 2008, the state’s voters have been remarkably accurate at voting for the eventual election winner. Since 1928, they’ve picked every other election correctly except for 1960, when they chose Nixon over Kennedy.