This covers the statewide State & Federal Primary (including the open gubernatorial race, U.S. Senate, and congressional races under new maps) plus county general elections. Early voting runs July 17–August 1, with Election Day on August 6.
Key details
- Breakdown by party (early/absentee so far): Roughly 137,158 Republican ballots and 67,717 Democratic ballots (Republican ballots outnumber Democratic ones by about 2-to-1 statewide).
- Comparison to prior cycles: This is up ~48% from the same point in the 2022 primary (~142,187 voters) and ~16% ahead of 2018. Urban counties have seen especially large increases.
- Registered voters: Tennessee has roughly 4.3 million registered voters (around 4.33 million in recent figures). Early voting so far represents a low single-digit percentage of the total (roughly 4–5%), which is typical early in the period for a midterm primary. Full primary turnout is expected to be substantially higher by August 6 but still well below general-election levels.
Earlier local primaries (e.g., May 2026 in some counties such as Knox and Shelby) had lower turnout (around 16–22% in reported counties). The current August primary is the main statewide contest so far in 2026.
Official daily updates and county-level breakdowns are available from the Tennessee Secretary of State at sos.tn.gov/govotetn (including PDF/XLSX turnout reports). Numbers continue to rise as early voting continues through August 1.
