The 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next Governor of Tennessee. The primaries took place on August 2, with Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean winning their respective party nominations. Lee was elected with nearly 60% of the vote. This was the first time since 1982 that a candidate from the incumbent U.S. president's party was elected Governor of Tennessee. This is the first time Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state and the first time ever that a Republican was elected to succeed another Republican.