Premium

Red wall or rising blue wave? Tennessee’s midterms split along party lines

By , Daily Memphian Updated: November 09, 2026 10:01 AM CT | Published: November 09, 2026 4:00 AM CT

The national blue wave in the Nov. 3 midterm elections either raised the tide for Democrats in Tennessee or crashed into, but never topped, the red wall around the hold Republicans have on state government.

It depends on which side of the still intact partisan divide is doing the talking.

Republicans point to the results and who won. Democrats point to the competitiveness of the races.

You’ve reached an excerpt of this article. Read the full story and more local journalism by subscribing to The Daily Memphian.

Topics

2026 Congressional races 2026 Governor's race 2026 elections Ward Baker Marsha Blackburn Jerri Green Rachel Campbell Scott Colom David Kustoff Justin J. Pearson Brent Taylor Subscriber Only

Thank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.

Did you know we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization? We rely on a mix of revenue from subscriptions (50%), advertising, events and other earned income (25%) and fundraising (25%).

Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation or other contribution to The Daily Memphian today. 

👉🏽 Your subscription pays for you to read all our journalism.

👉🏽 Your donation powers the work we do to reach everyone else with the news.

We believe an informed Memphis is a better Memphis. If you agree, join our growing list of donors now.

Bill Dries on demand

Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Bill Dries' stories as they’re published.

Enter your e-mail address

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Bill Dries

Bill Dries

Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories? If you’re a subscriber, scroll down to the comments. If you’re not a subscriber, only paid subscribers can add their thoughts, so subscribe now. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.