Senate seat in 2018, but lost by 11 percentage points to Republican Sen. The popular two-term governor mounted a Democratic campaign for an open U.S. The last Democratic governor in Tennessee was Phil Bredesen, who served from 2003 until 2011. Gordon Browning in the Democratic primary, though from 1953 to 1978, governors had to sit out for a term before seeking another run, according to Tennessee legislative historian Eddie Weeks. The last time a sitting governor was defeated was in 1938, when Prentice Cooper beat then-Gov. Lee’s reelection is in keeping with Tennessee history. His interactions with victims after deadly tornadoes, flooding and other catastrophes further showcased his empathetic, one-on-one approach. In his first election, Lee spoke often about losing his first wife in a deadly horseback riding accident. Lee pushed toward reelection even as he revealed in August that his wife Maria had been diagnosed with lymphoma, saying her prognosis was good and it was a treatable form of cancer. He occasionally let some become law without signing them to signal his unease, including on a bill that requires serving full or 85% prison sentences for certain crimes. When Lee disagreed with an increasingly conservative Republican legislature, he never vetoed a bill. He avoided an intraparty challenge in August in part by leading on legislation on some of the most fiery socially conservative topics, including the right to carry handguns in public without a permit and a six-week abortion ban, both of which he signed into law. Lee’s win came after he was the first incumbent governor in about three decades to have no primary opponent. One of Lee’s campaign ads, in turn, appeared to speak specifically to women, mentioning women’s health care offerings under his administration, additional TennCare benefits for new mothers and efforts aimed at foster care and adoption.
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