Hagerty wins Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Tennessee


Bill Hagerty won the 15-candidate Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Tennessee. With 31% of the vote reporting, Hagerty had received 52.5% of the vote and Manny Sethi had received 37.9%. George Flinn Jr. was the only candidate with more than 3% of the vote.

Incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander (R), first elected in 2002, did not run for re-election.

Hagerty received endorsements from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and U.S. President Donald Trump (R), whose administration he previously served in as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. Sethi, an orthopedic surgeon, received endorsements from U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), founder of the Senate Conservatives Fund and the former president of the Heritage Foundation.

According to pre-primary campaign finance reports, Hagerty raised $12.3 million, the second-highest total among all non-incumbent Republicans in 2020 U.S. Senate primaries at the time. He reported $2.7 million cash on hand. Sethi raised $4.6 million with $386,000 on hand. Satellite spending totaled over $4 million primarily in the form of campaign ads. Standing With Conservatives spent $110,000 on ads supporting Hagerty and $1.2 million opposing Sethi. America One spent $375,000 opposing Sethi. Conservative Outsider PAC and Protect Freedom PAC spent $1 million opposing Hagerty and $1.5 million supporting Sethi, respectively.

Hagerty will face the winner of the Democratic primary on November 3, 2020. Three race forecasters rate the general election as Safe/Solid Republican.

Republicans currently control 53 seats in the Senate. Democrats control 45. There are two Independents who caucus with the Democrats.

Thirty-five elections will take place for the U.S. Senate in November, including special elections in Arizona for the seat that John McCain (R) won in 2016 and in Georgia for the seat that Johnny Isakson (R) won in 2016.