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Home / TN: Does the Governor have Coattails?TN: Does the Governor have Coattails?
Last Updated on Thursday, 23 October 2008 11:01 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 23 October 2008 11:01
From the Nashville City Paper:
Gov. Phil Bredesen is going to find out in November if his electoral coattails are any longer this presidential election cycle than they were in 2004.
That year, Bredesen campaigned statewide for Democratic state Senate candidates, even going door-to-door in some Middle Tennessee districts. The effort came amidst a double-digit win in Tennessee by President George W. Bush, and Democrats lost numeric control of the state Senate for the first time in an election since Reconstruction.
An election cycle later, Democrats lost the Senate speaker post to GOP Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. Presently, Democrats hold a narrow margin over Republicans in the state House, preserving the longtime reign of Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.