1990 United States Senate election in Tennessee

The 1990 United States Senate election in Tennessee was held on November 6, 1990, to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee. Incumbent Senator Al Gore of the Democratic Party defeated challenger William R. Hawkins of the Republican Party, winning a second term. The election had a turnout rate of just over 20% of registered voters. Gore won in a landslide with over 67% of the vote, improving on his 1984 margin and winning all of the state's counties.

Hawkins's campaign was poorly funded and relatively unknown, compared to Gore who was incredibly popular within the state and began the race with over a million dollars in campaign funds. Gore was expected to easily win re-election and the election cycle was labeled "boring". Issues for the campaign included fiscal responsibility and Gore's liberal voting record.

As of the 2024 United States Senate elections, this was the last time the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Tennessee, and also the most recent Senate election in Tennessee in which all counties went to the Democratic candidate.

In 1984, despite Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the concurrent presidential election,^[1] Al Gore flipped an open Senate seat held by retiring Republican Howard Baker,^[2] defeating Republican Victor Ashe with a little over 60% of the vote. By contrast, Reagan won Tennessee in the presidential election with 58% of the vote to 42% for Democratic candidate Walter Mondale.^[3]

The 1990 election was held as part of the midterm election cycle of Republican President George H. W. Bush's term.^[4] Historically, the President's party struggles during the midterms.^[5] Gore was one of several politicians who were seen as likely candidates for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination up for reelection.^[6]

• Al Gore (Democrat), incumbent Senator^[7]
• William R. Hawkins (Republican), conservative author^[7][8]

Primary elections were held on August 2, 1990. Just under 25% of Tennessee's 2.5 million registered voters voted in the primary elections. State elections coordinator Will Burns said the turnout rate was "pretty dismal".^[9]

• Al Gore, incumbent Senator^[7]

After winning his first term in a landslide victory, Gore decided to run for a second. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Writing for The Commercial Appeal, Terry Keeter credited the lack of competition to the margin of Gore's victory in the 1984 senate election.^[8] Gore received almost 480 thousand votes with 54 votes cast for write-in candidates.^[9]

• William R. Hawkins, conservative author^[8]
• Ralph H. Brown, retiree with no political experience^[8]
• Patrick K. Hales, unsuccessful candidate for the Tennessee Public Service Commission in 1986^[8]

Former Governor Lamar Alexander, who was very popular in the state, was seen as the only person who could successfully oust Gore. However he declined to run in favor of being President of the University of Tennessee.^[6] Hawkins ran after being approached by the Tennessee Conservative Union. He felt that Gore was "the most liberal Senator from the south" and did not properly represent the views of Tennesseans.^[10] He described similarities between the voting records of Gore and his father, Albert Gore Sr.,^[11] noting that Gore Sr. had lost reelection. Hawkins' primary had a total budget of $3,000.^[7] Brown felt that even if he won the nomination he would not be able to defeat Gore in the general election. Despite this he felt it would give him a platform to publicize his beliefs.^[10] Hales ran because he felt Gore was "out of touch" with his fellow Tennesseans.^[10] After the primary, Hales stated he was advised against running.^[12]

Despite Gore being expected to easily win the general election, the primary was very closely contested. Hawkins defeated Brown by a very narrow margin, though both received over twenty thousand more votes than Hale.^[7][12]

Twelve Years Later, Alexander would win Gore's seat in 2002

Hawkins's campaign was poorly funded;^[13][14] he only had $3,000 to fund his primary run, while Gore had begun the campaign with around $1,000,000.^[7] Two weeks before election day Hawkins had raised $12,000 to Gore's $2,000,000.^[13][15] Hawkins' campaign ended with zero cash on hand while Gore had just over $700,000 left.^[16]

Hawkins stated that he wanted to run the most "issue-orientated campaign Tennessee has ever seen." He criticized Gore's liberal views, including his stance on the death penalty and his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1990.^[7] Despite Gore being more pro-military than most Democrats, Hawkins criticized him for being "soft on defense".^[17] Hawkins noted that the federal deficit had increased under policy's that Gore had voted for.^[11][17] He stated that if elected he would work to cut taxes and reduce government spending.^[11]

The staff of The Jackson Sun characterized Tennessee's election cycle as boring, noting the likelihood of Gore and incumbent Governor Ned McWherter being reelected, writing, "the gubernatorial and senatorial races are a yawn".^[18] Republican Representative Don Sundquist felt that the Hawkins was a weak candidate and that Republicans would likely have a better chance of taking the seat in the 1996 election.^[19]

On October 29, 1990, roughly two weeks before election day, Hawkins admitted that his campaign "failed to generate excitement" and acknowledged the relative obscurity of his campaign even within Republican groups.^[15] However, the staff of The Commercial Appeal noted that Gore would have some difficulty with his bid due to the conservative lean of Tennessee and his liberal voting record.^[20]

Gore was unable to make in person campaign visits for much of the race due to his role in Congress. The campaign ran a single sixty second television advertisement. In the final few days of the campaign, Gore visited several locations in Memphis, Tennessee and ran a half hour long television special in all major markets throughout the state. Gore's press secretary said the special cost around $20,000-$30,000 and was produced by the firm Squier-Eskew-Knapp advertising firm. On the contrary, Hawkins canceled his planned statewide press conferences and was unable to air radio ads he had recorded due to budgetary constraints. Hawkins had planned to host a fundraising dinner, however he had to cancel the dinner after the organizer of the event died.^[13]

The election was held on November 6, 1990.^[14][21] Gore, like most incumbents in the 1990 United States Senate elections,^[4] was reelected to another term. He won in a landslide,^[14][22] receiving over 67 percent of the vote,^[23] an improvement on his previous margin of victory.^[24] Independent candidates Charles Gordon Vick and Bill Jacox both received around 1% of the vote each. A total of 109 votes were cast for write-in candidates. The election had a turnout rate of slightly over 20% of registered voters casting ballots, a similar level to the concurrent gubernatorial election.^[23][25] Low voter turnout was projected due to the lack of major opposition in the Senate and Gubernatorial elections. However, the turnout rate was higher than expected.^[26]

Gore won all 95 of the state's counties. His best performance was in Trousdale County, where he won 88 percent of the vote to Hawkins' 10 percent. Hawkins' best performance was in Monroe County where he won around 40 percent of the vote to Gore's 57 percent.^[23] Gore over performed McWherter's margin in the gubernatorial race by around seven percent, although he received a lower number of votes. Hawkins under performed Republican gubernatorial candidate Dwight Henry.^[23][25]

On January 3, 1991, Gore was sworn in to the 102nd United States Congress by then–Vice President Dan Quayle alongside his fellow Senators-elect.^[29] After being elected Vice President in the 1992 presidential election, Gore resigned from his Senate seat on January 2, 1993. Harlan Mathews was appointed to replace him by Governor Ned McWherter.^[30] In the 1994 special election for the seat, the remainder of Gore's term was won by Republican Fred Thompson who defeated Democratic Representative Jim Cooper for Tennessee's 4th congressional district.^[31]

As of the 2024 election cycle, this was the last time the Democrats won a Senate election in Tennessee.^[32] It is the most recent Senate election in Tennessee in which several counties, including Knox County and Hamilton County, voted for the Democratic candidate.^[33] Beginning with the 1994 elections the Democratic party struggled in the state.^[34]