The blue wave may have missed Tennessee, but it seems to have splashed Rutherford County.
Three of the six statehouse seats that flipped Democratic in Tuesday’s election were in Rutherford County.
- in House District 13, which covers parts of Murfreesboro and Smyrna, Democrat Brett Windrow defeated incumbent state Rep. Robert Stevens
- in House District 34, which includes the heart of Murfreesboro and a southwestern sliver of the county, Owen Farnsworth incumbent Rep. Tim Rudd
- in House District 49, Connie Casha unseated Smyrna’s Rep. Mike Sparks who has held the position since 2010
Updates: Election results from WPLN News
In addition to flipping the statehouse seats, Rutherford County voters shifted left in Congressional races.
The area southeast of Nashville appears to have narrowly ousted longtime District 4 Congressman Scott DesJarlais in favor of Democratic challenger Victoria Broderick, according to the final unofficial vote count from the Secretary of State’s office. A small portion of the county was also part of Tennessee’s newly redrawn District 9. Rutherford County voters in that district favored the Democratic candidate, state Rep. Justin J. Pearson by more than 10 percentage points.
Voters in Rutherford County also preferred Dems in statewide races. The county, which President Donald Trump won with 60% in 2024, voted for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerri Green by a margin of nine percentage points. Democratic senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw also narrowly won the county over incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty.
Still, three GOP incumbents in Rutherford County held onto their seats. Rep. Bryan Terry had the most comfortable win, beating Democrat Matt Ferry by 10 points. Rep. Charlie Baum won his race with a six-point margin. And Sen. Dawn White won her race with fewer than four percentage points separating her from her challenger.
Despite the Democratic gains in Rutherford County, the GOP still holds sizable majorities in both Tennessee’s House and Senate.
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