Republicans control majority for first time since Reconstruction

Cohen, Norris and Kyle win locally

By Richard Locker for The Commercial Appeal
November 2, 2004

Sens. Steve Cohen, Mark Norris and Jim Kyle won easy re-election to the Tennessee Senate but the big story in Tuesday’s legislative elections: Republicans won an elected majority in the Senate for the first time since Reconstruction.

The GOP won two Democratic seats outside Nashville to claim a 17-16 majority in the Senate, ending the 18-15 Democratic margin in place since 1996. Democratic Sens. Jo Ann Graves of Gallatin and Larry Trail of Murfreesboro lost to Republican challengers Diane Black, who is moving up from the House, and Jim Tracy, respectively.

The results were incomplete and unofficial Tuesday night.

In Shelby County, Cohen, D- Memphis, defeated Republican Johnny Hatcher Jr. and independent perennial candidate Mary Taylor Shelby for a seventh term in District 30, which covers parts of Midtown, East Memphis and southeast Memphis.

With 58 of 58 precincts reporting:

Cohen @41,964 (67.2%)
Hatcher @14,643 (23.4%)
Shelby @ 5,853 (9.4%)

Norris, R-Collierville, won his second term, handily defeating Democrat Pete Parker of Dyersburg in Senate District 32, which stretches from East and North Shelby County through Tipton, Lauderdale and Dyer counties.

With 54 of 69 precincts reporting:

Norris@42,366 (69.6%)
Parker@18,518 (30.4%)

Kyle, D-Memphis, was unopposed for a sixth term in Raleigh- centered District 28.

Shelby County’s three other state senators are in the middle of four-year terms and were not up for election this year. With Cohen and Norris heavily favored, the big question of the night was whether Democrats would maintain their majority in the state Senate — and they didn’t, despite heavy campaigning by Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.

The GOP held a one-vote margin briefly in 1996 when two members elected as Democrats switched parties, but the Republicans lacked the votes to reorganize the chamber in midterm.

Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives, but they saw their margin drop by one seat, to 53-46. The GOP takeover of the Senate will throw the election of the speaker into disarray. The top office has been held by Sen. John Wilder, D-Somerville, since 1971.

Wilder, who won re-election Tuesday, said he will run for an 18th term as speaker but the GOP will likely field their own candidate when the legislature convenes in January.