Tennessee Senate

Senate of Tennessee
Senate of Tennessee
Tennessee General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 14, 2025
Leadership
Speaker	Randy McNally (R) ; since January 10, 2017
Speaker pro tempore	Ferrell Haile (R) ; since January 19, 2018
Majority Leader	Jack Johnson (R) ; since January 8, 2019
Minority Leader	Raumesh Akbari (D) ; since January 10, 2023
Structure
Seats	33
Political groups	Majority party Republican (27); Minority party Democratic (6);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, Tennessee Constitution
Salary	$24,316/year + per diem, employee benefits, travel reimbursement
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2022; (17 seats)
Next election	November 5, 2024; (16 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Tennessee State Capitol; Nashville, Tennessee
Website
	Tennessee Senate
Rules
	Permanent Rules of Order; for the 113th General Assembly

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 has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue regarding the state, country, or world. The Senate also has the power to create and enforce its own rules and qualifications for its members. The Senate shares these powers with the Tennessee House of Representatives. The Senate alone has the power to host impeachment proceeding and remove impeached members of office with a 2/3 majority. 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 Tennessee 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.

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. Senators from even-numbered districts are elected in the same years as presidential elections, and senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in the same years as mid-term elections. 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 (2005–07) for the first time since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties. Following the 2018 elections, there were no Democratic senators from East Tennessee. There were three Democrats from Memphis in West Tennessee, and three from Middle Tennessee, two from Nashville and one from the Nashville suburb of Goodlettsville.

Senate Speaker

According to Article III, Section 12 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, the Speaker of the Senate assumes Office of Governor in the event of a Vacancy. The Senate elects one of its own members as Speaker and the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. The Speaker appoints a Speaker Pro Tempore who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Speaker as well as a Deputy speaker to assist the Speaker in his or her duties. 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 based upon ability and preference of members, seniority, and party representation. The Speaker also maintains the power to remove members from Committee appointments. The Speaker, in cohort with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, chairs the Joint Legislative Services Committee which provides assistance to the General Assembly. The Speaker also controls staffing and office space with Senate staff. The Speaker serves as an ex-officio member of all standing committees.^[2]

Oath and qualifications of office

Oath of office

"I [name of official] do solemnly swear that, as a member of this, the [number, ex. One Hundred Eleventh] General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, I will faithfully support the Constitution of this State and of the United States, and I do solemnly affirm that as a member of this General Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection, partiality, or prejudice; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing, whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the Constitution of this state."^[2]

Qualifications for office

"No person shall be a senator unless he shall be a citizen of the United States, of the age of thirty years, and shall have resided three years in this state, and one year in the county or district, immediately preceding the election."^[2]

Composition of the 113th General Assembly (2023-2025)

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	27	6	33	0

Beginning of 113th GA	27	6	33	0
Latest voting share	81.8%	18.18%

Senate Leadership and Members

Senate Leaders^[3]

Speaker of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor: Randy McNally
Speaker pro tempore: Ferrell Haile
Deputy Speaker: Shane Reeves, John Stevens, Dawn White

Majority Party (R)	Leadership Position	Minority Party (D)
Jack Johnson	Leader	Raumesh Akbari
Ken Yager	Caucus Chairperson	London Lamar

Members

District	Name	Party	First elected	Residence	Counties represented
1	J. Adam Lowe	Rep	2022	Calhoun	Meigs, McMinn, Rhea, and part of Bradley
2	Art Swann	Rep	2016	Alcoa	Blount, Monroe, Polk, and part of Bradley
3	Rusty Crowe	Rep	1990	Johnson City	Carter, Johnson, and Washington
4	Jon Lundberg	Rep	2016	Bristol	Hawkins, Sullivan
5	Randy McNally	Rep	1986	Oak Ridge	Anderson, Loudon, and part of Knox
6	Becky Duncan Massey	Rep	2011*	Knoxville	Part of Knox
7	Richard Briggs	Rep	2014	Knoxville	Part of Knox
8	Frank S. Niceley	Rep	2012	Strawberry Plains	Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Jefferson, Union, and part of Sevier
9	Steve Southerland	Rep	2002	Morristown	Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Unicoi, and part of Sevier
10	Todd Gardenhire	Rep	2012	Chattanooga	Bledsoe, Marion, Sequatchie, and part of Hamilton
11	Bo Watson	Rep	2006	Hixson	Part of Hamilton
12	Ken Yager	Rep	2008	Kingston	Campbell, Clay, Fentress, Macon, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Roane, and Scott
13	Dawn White	Rep	2018	Murfreesboro	Part of Rutherford
14	Shane Reeves	Rep	2017*	Murfreesboro	Bedford, Cannon, Moore, and part of Rutherford
15	Paul Bailey	Rep	2014	Sparta	Cumberland, Jackson, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, and White
16	Janice Bowling	Rep	2012	Tullahoma	Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, and Warren
17	Mark Pody	Rep	2017*	Lebanon	Wilson and part of Davidson
18	Ferrell Haile	Rep	2012	Gallatin	Sumner, and Trousdale
19	Charlane Oliver	Dem	2022	Nashville	Part of Davidson
20	Heidi Campbell	Dem	2020	Nashville	Part of Davidson
21	Jeff Yarbro	Dem	2014	Nashville	Part of Davidson
22	Bill Powers	Rep	2019*	Clarksville	Part of Montgomery
23	Kerry Roberts	Rep	2014 (2011*)	Springfield	Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Humphreys, Robertson, and part of Montgomery
24	John Stevens	Rep	2012	Huntingdon	Benton, Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Houston, Obion, Stewart, and Weakley
25	Ed Jackson	Rep	2014	Jackson	Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Henderson, and Lake, Madison, and Perry
26	Page Walley	Rep	2020	Bolivar	Chester, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Lawrence, McNairy, and Wayne
27	Jack Johnson	Rep	2006	Franklin	Part of Williamson
28	Joey Hensley	Rep	2012	Hohenwald	Giles, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, and part of Williamson
29	Raumesh Akbari	Dem	2018	Memphis	Part of Shelby
30	Sara Kyle	Dem	2014	Memphis	Part of Shelby
31	Brent Taylor	Rep	2022	Memphis	Part of Shelby
32	Paul Rose	Rep	2019*	Covington	Lauderdale, Tipton and part of Shelby
33	London Lamar	Dem	2022*	Memphis	Part of Shelby

*Senator was originally elected in a special election or appointed

Senate Committees

The Tennessee State Senate has 12 committees in total: 9 standing committees and 3 select committees. Committee assignments for the 112th General Assembly were announced in the January 12, 2021 organizational session:^[4]

Standing Committees^[5]
Committee Name	Chair	Vice-chair
Commerce and Labor	Sen. Paul Bailey (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Art Swann (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Frank Nicely (R)
Education	Sen. Jon Lundberg (R)	2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D)
Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources	Sen. Steve Southerland (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Frank Niceley (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Mark Pody (R)
Finance, Ways, and Means	Sen. Bo Watson (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. John Stevens (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Joey Hensley (R)
Government Operations	Sen. Kerry Roberts (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Ed Jackson (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Janice Bowling (R)
Health and Welfare	Sen. Rusty Crowe (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Ferrell Haile (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Shane Reeves (R)
Judiciary	Vacant	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Dawn White (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Paul Rose (R)
State and Local Government	Sen. Richard Briggs (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Page Walley (R)
Transportation and Safety	Sen. Becky Duncan Massey (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Bill Powers (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Mark Pody (R)

Select Committees
Committee Name	Chair	Vice-chair
Calendar	Sen. Ed Jackson (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Jack Johnson (R) 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D)
Ethics	Sen. Ferrell Haile (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. John Stevens (R)
Rules	Sen. Bo Watson (R)	1st Vice Chair: Sen. Richard Briggs (R)