Tennessee's electoral votes in U.S. presidential elections 1796-2020
siding with the nationwide winner in all but two elections between 1912 and 2004. In its early history, Tennessee sided with the Democratic-Republican nominee and Whig nominee in all elections they participated in, before voting mainly Democratic from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. The only time where Tennessee did not vote for a major party candidate was in the 1860 election, where it backed Tennessee-born John C. Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, and it's electoral votes were rejected in the following election due to the circumstances of the state's capture during the American Civil War. There was also a case in 1820, where one elector died before being able to cast their ballot, while in 1948 one faithless elector cast their ballot for the Dixiecrat candidate Strom Thurmond. Tennessee has voted Republican in most elections since 1952, including all of the past six, and in the 2020 election Donald Trump won the popular vote with 23 percent margin of victory.
Tennessee has taken part in 56 U.S. presidential elections since 1796, voting for the nationwide winner in 35 of these elections, which gives a success rate of 63 percent. Throughout most of the 20th century, Tennessee was a bellweather state,