Dems gain one seat in state Senate, House makeup unchanged

With much of the vote tallied across the state, there were only handful of legislative races still in play.

In state Senate contests, Democratic challenger Heidi Campbell beat incumbent Sen. Steve Dickerson in Nashville, 52% to 48%.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga held on to a 6 point win over Democrat Glenn Scruggs.

In House races, incumbent Memphis Rep. John DeBerry, who was stripped of his ability to run for re-election as a Democrat, lost to the party’s standard-bearer, Torrey Harris, 77% to 23%.

The open race to succeed retiring Rep. Jim Coley (R-Bartlett) had Republican John Gillespie bear Democrat Gabby Salinas by 485 votes. In another closely-watched Shelby County race, Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) won by 9 points over Democrat Jerri Green.

With most of the vote counted in Rutherford County, Rep. Mike Sparks (R-Smyrna) beat Democrat Brandon Thomas by 9 points.

In Knox County, Republican businessman Eddie Mannis defeated Democrat Virginia Couch by 10 points to keep the seat in the Republican column following the retirement of Rep. Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville). Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) turned back a challenge from Republican Elaine Davis by 6 percentage points.