Tennessee Senate

Senate of Tennessee
Senate of Tennessee
Tennessee General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 10, 2017
Leadership
Speaker of the Senate	Randy McNally (R) ; since January 10, 2017
Speaker pro Tempore	Ferrell Haile (R) ; since January 19, 2018
Majority Leader	Mark Norris (R) ; since January 9, 2007
Minority Leader	Lee Harris (D) ; since January 13, 2015
Structure
Seats	33
Political groups	Majority party Republican (25); Minority party Democratic (4); Vacant (2);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, Tennessee Constitution
Salary	$19,009/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 1, 2016; (16 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018; (17 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Tennessee State Capitol; Nashville, Tennessee
Website
	www.capitol.tn.gov/senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.

The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators are to be elected from districts of substantially equal population. According to the constitution, a county is not to be joined to a portion of another county for purposes of creating a district; this provision has been overridden by the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in Baker v. Carr (369 U.S. 182, 1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (337 U.S. 356, 1964).

The Tennessee constitution has been amended to allow that if these rulings are ever changed or reversed, a referendum may be held to allow the senate districts to be drawn on a basis other than substantially equal population.

In 1921, Anna Lee Keys Worley became the first woman to serve in the Tennessee Senate.^[1]

Until 1966, Tennessee state senators served two-year terms. That year the system was changed, by constitutional amendment, to allow four-year terms. In that year, senators in even-numbered districts were elected to two-year terms and those in odd-numbered districts were elected to four-year terms. This created a staggered system in which only half of the senate is up for election at any one time. Districts are to be sequentially and consecutively numbered; the scheme basically runs from east to west and north to south.^{[citation needed]}

Republicans attained an elected majority in the Senate in the 104th General Assembly (2005-2007) for the first time since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties.

Senate Speaker

The Senate elects one of its own members as Speaker; the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. The current Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor is Randy McNally, who was elected to the position in 2017. One of the main duties of the Speaker is to preside over the Senate and make Senate committee appointments. The Speaker also controls staffing and office space with Senate staff. The Speaker serves as an ex-officio member of all standing committees.

Composition of the 109th General Assembly 2015–2017

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" \|	style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" \|
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	26	7	33	0

Begin	28	5	33	0
August 31st, 2017^[2]	27		32	1
November 6th, 2017^[3]	26		31	2
November 22nd, 2017^[4]	25		30	3
December 19th, 2017^[5]	26		31	2
Latest voting share	83.9%	16.1%

Senate Leadership and Members

Senate Leaders

Speaker of the Senate/ Lieutenant Governor: Randy McNally
Speaker Pro Tempore: Ferrell Haile
Deputy Speaker: Janice Bowling

Majority Leadership (R)

Majority Leader: Mark Norris
Caucus Chairman: Bill Ketron
Caucus Secretary: Becky Duncan Massey
Caucus Treasurer: Ferrell Haile

Minority Leadership (D)

Minority Leader: Lee Harris
Caucus Chairman: Jeff Yarbro

Members, 2017–2019

District	Name	Party	Residence	Counties represented
1	Steve Southerland	Rep	Morristown	Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and part of Sevier
2	Art Swann	Rep	Maryville	Blount and part of Sevier
3	Rusty Crowe	Rep	Maryville	Washington, Unicoi, and part of Carter
4	Jon Lundberg	Rep	Bristol	Johnson, Sullivan, and part of Carter
5	Randy McNally	Rep	Maryville	Anderson, Loudon, and part of Knox
6	Becky Duncan Massey	Rep	Knoxville	Part of Knox
7	Richard Briggs	Rep	Knoxville	Part of Knox
8	Frank Niceley	Rep	Strawberry Plains	Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Union, and Jefferson
9	Mike Bell	Rep	Riceville	Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, and part of Bradley
10	Todd Gardenhire	Rep	Chattanooga	Parts of Hamilton and Bradley
11	Bo Watson	Rep	Hixson	Part of Hamilton
12	Ken Yager	Rep	Kingston	Campbell, Fentress, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Pickett, and Scott
13	Vacant			Part of Rutherford
14	Shane Reeves	Rep	Murfreesboro	Bedford, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, and part of Rutherford
15	Paul Bailey	Rep	Sparta	Cumberland, Jackson, Overton, Bledsoe, Putnam, and White
16	Janice Bowling	Rep	Tullahoma	Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Van Buren, and Warren
17	Mark Pody	Rep	Lebanon	Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson
18	Ferrell Haile	Rep	Gallatin	Sumner, Trousdale, and part of Davidson
19	Thelma Harper	Dem	Nashville	Part of Davidson
20	Steven Dickerson	Rep	Nashville	Part of Davidson
21	Jeff Yarbro	Dem	Nashville	Part of Davidson
22	Mark Green	Rep	Clarksville	Stewart, Houston, and Montgomery
23	Jack Johnson	Rep	Franklin	Williamson
24	John Stevens	Rep	Huntingdon	Benton, Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Obion, and Weakley
25	Kerry Roberts	Rep	Springfield	Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Humphreys, and Robertson
26	Dolores Gresham	Rep	Somerville	Chester, Decatur, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, McNairy, and Henderson
27	Ed Jackson	Rep	Jackson	Madison, Crockett, Dyer, Lake, and Lauderdale
28	Joey Hensley	Rep	Hohenwald	Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, Perry, and Wayne
29	Vacant			Part of Shelby
30	Sara Kyle	Dem	Memphis	Part of Shelby
31	Brian Kelsey	Rep	Germantown	Part of Shelby
32	Mark Norris	Rep	Collierville	Tipton and part of Shelby
33	Reginald Tate	Dem	Memphis	Part of Shelby

Past composition of the Senate

References

^ "Anna Lee Keys Worley". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
^ Sen. Mae Beavers (R-17) resigns to focus on gubernatorial run [1]
^ Sen. Jim Tracy (R-14) resigns for a federal appointment [2]
^ Sen. Doug Overbey (R-2) resigns following appointment as U.S. attorney [3]
^ Republican Mark Pody elected to replace Sen. Mae Beavers (R-17) [4]

External links

Official website

36°09′57″N 86°47′03″W / 36.1658°N 86.7843°W / 36.1658; -86.7843

[1] "Anna Lee Keys Worley". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2018.

[2] Sen. Mae Beavers (R-17) resigns to focus on gubernatorial run [1]

[3] Sen. Jim Tracy (R-14) resigns for a federal appointment [2]

[4] Sen. Doug Overbey (R-2) resigns following appointment as U.S. attorney [3]

[5] Republican Mark Pody elected to replace Sen. Mae Beavers (R-17) [4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Members of the Tennessee State Senate
113th General Assembly (2023–2025) Lt. Governor and Speaker Randy McNally (R) Speaker pro tempore Ferrell Haile (R) Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R) Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D)
▌J. Adam Lowe (R) ▌Art Swann (R) ▌Rusty Crowe (R) ▌Jon Lundberg (R) ▌Randy McNally (R) ▌Becky Massey (R) ▌Richard Briggs (R) ▌Frank Niceley (R) ▌Steve Southerland (R) ▌Todd Gardenhire (R) ▌Bo Watson (R) ▌Ken Yager (R) ▌Dawn White (R) ▌Shane Reeves (R) ▌Paul Bailey (R) ▌Janice Bowling (R) ▌Mark Pody (R) ▌Ferrell Haile (R) ▌Charlane Oliver (D) ▌Heidi Campbell (D) ▌Jeff Yarbro (D) ▌Bill Powers (R) ▌Kerry Roberts (R) ▌John Stevens (R) ▌Ed Jackson (R) ▌Page Walley (R) ▌Jack Johnson (R) ▌Joey Hensley (R) ▌Raumesh Akbari (D) ▌Sara Kyle (D) ▌Brent Taylor (R) ▌Paul Rose (R) ▌London Lamar (D)
▌Republican (27) ▌Democratic (6) Tennessee General Assembly House Senate List of past Assemblies

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v t e Officers of the State of Tennessee
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